MozFest Fringe Blog Takeover: Day 4

In our final installment from the MozFest fringe this week, we bring you insights from MakoEducation, who are using digital arts to help young people explore their local communities.

MakoEducation deliver innovative workshops and projects in modern digital media, using the latest technologies, to inspire young people. From July-December they are delivering their Digital Roots project, which aims to help young people complete 140 Discover Awards.

Digital Roots aims to produce a collection of multimedia digital artwork that reveals what it’s like growing up in four different districts of St Helens. The project will improve the digital skills of young people aged 9-16, improve communication and self-confidence and provide the chance to give back to their communities by volunteering.

The detail:

Digital Roots will have three main sections.

Section 1 – Introduction workshops.  Digital arts workshops in each area to recruit young people. These workshops will focus on different art forms including creative coding art, computer game design, digital music, photography and animation, and video special effects.

Section 2 - A six week long programme in each target area. Each week participants explore a theme through a range of digital art forms and create a multimedia piece of art that represents their experience of growing up in St Helens.  During this section the young people will find out about a local artist and gather their evidence in Discover arts logs.

At the end of the six week programme, young people will be invited to continue the project by joining forces with participants from all four areas to create an exhibition of their work.

Section 3 – Showcase. A large gallery event that will showcase all of the work created by the young people of St Helens.

Top tip for digital delivery:

MakoEducation deliver most of our workshops using iPads. If you're thinking of using iPads, the Book Creator App is a great way for the participants to document all their digital artwork and learning in an arts log for submission.

MozFest – what you need to know:

MozFest is a digital festival hosted by the Mozilla Foundation taking place in London on 29 and 30 October where Arts Award will be hosting the digital arts and culture space. We’re inviting you to get involved by attending the event with young people, or by taking the inspiration from our fringe activities to shape your own digital arts delivery for Arts Award.

MozFest youth tickets are £3 (under 18s) and educators go free. Tickets provide access on both days as well as lunch, drinks and a goodie bag.  Group tickets can be booked through this link. Schools and youth organisations that need assistance with ticket costs can contact festival@mozilla.org, remember to state that you are an Arts Award centre in your email.

For further information about attending MozFest, contact julie.neville@trinitycollege.co.uk