About The Artz Academy
Who are we
Artz Academy was born out of a need to promote and develop the arts in education and the community and was set up by community artist Gabi Harris, BA Hons, Art Therapy and Communication, University of East London. Artz Academy's aim is to work with young people, using a wide range of media the philosophy being:
"...it is essential to remain open to new forms of arts practice and be aware of the link between art and popular culture, every one of us is essentially creative and it is a necessary part of human nature to express thoughts, feelings and ideals and use our imagination and creativity."
Artz Academy enables participants to gain access to a wide range of high quality participatory art activities, providing opportunities for self development and the gaining of new skills, based on the young person's need for inclusion, involvement, ownership and enjoyment of the creative process.
Artz Academy have developed an expertise in working with young people who are caught in the criminal justice system, or at risk of getting involved in crime. Work in this area involves engaging some of the most 'difficult' to reach and disaffected young people, running community arts workshops and producing positive results.
Our Aims
Artz Academy aims to:
- Run educational or therapeutic arts workshops in schools, youth centres, hospitals, residential homes, community centres
- Empower, engage and inspire the young and young at heart
- Improve quality of life and community spaces
- Create art works positively affecting behaviour and attitudes
- Collaborate with community members so artwork reflects and celebrates unique identity
- To run Youth Arts Projects as a tool to address issues such as: exclusion, disaffection, citizenship, attitudes to learning, youth offending, drug awareness, education, and addictions.
Our Approach
When Artz Academy approaches a project, such as murals or a graffiti project, we start with an introductory session, hands- on participation in design, using coloured paper/paint for example, to explore artistic possibilities and how to go about reaching our design aims. We then move into production of the art integrating the various ideas made by the participants.
Workshops are planned with an artistic goal each week, and an exhibition in the final week.