Isle of Wight creatives have until Monday 20th February to apply for a commission of up to £4,000 pounds, to work with young people to transform neglected and hidden spaces in Ryde.
The project, aimed primarily at 12-14-year-olds, will be supported by Network Ryde and aims to empower young people to make a difference in their town through creativity, and have their voices heard.
The young people themselves will choose the artist they work with at a ‘Dragons’ Den’ event on Monday 27th February.
The project will be launched with a public art activity day for young people on Tuesday 14th February, based at Monkton Arts, where they will use creativity to explore some of the unused and forgotten spaces in Ryde and think about how they would like to transform one or more of these spaces.
During March and April, they will work with their chosen artist to create a place-changing artwork that encourages young people to get outside, engage with the IW Biosphere and get more physically active.
The Ryde project will be the fourth exciting, place-changing commission to be launched on the Isle of Wight as part of the Artswork-funded Supporting Young Minds programme.
The Sandown and Lake Youth Forum, supported by Community Action Isle of Wight and working with filmmaker Bruce Webb, has created a film about the challenges and benefits of living in the Bay area as a young person, while the Newport Youth Forum, based at Independent Arts, is busy creating an art trail around Newport, working with artist Laura Hathaway. Meanwhile, young people in Ventnor will be choosing a creative to help them transform an empty shop into a creative space at a Dragons’ Den event on Thursday 2nd February.
Peta Rainford from Independent Arts, has said:
“We are so excited that we have been able to extend the Supporting Young Minds programme to Ryde and give young people the opportunity to engage with their community and the work that is already being done to identify the unused and unwelcoming spaces in the town, which many young people find threatening and alienating,”
Creatives interested in the Ryde commission should email [email protected] for more information. Applications must be received by midday on Monday 20th February 2023.
If you are a young person aged 12-14 who lives, works or goes to school in the Ryde area and would like to be part of the project – on Tuesday 14th February and/or throughout March and April – please contact [email protected] or [email protected].
Yes, why don’t youngsters become the acceptable face of harmony and regeneration to a system of corruption which is going to destroy the towns they live in, the surrounding countryside, and all prospective chances of ever being able to afford a home where they were born? Ah, of course, they probably won’t be local children, despite the second, or third home address. Or residing at one of our, very few, schools for paying boarders.