Doing an Arts Award doesn’t always mean young people have to choose ‘traditional’ art forms as a focus for their arts activity or challenge.
As long as you, the adviser, help them focus on the creative elements of an art form - either directly yourself or via a specialised practitioner - there are so many exciting options young people could consider for their Arts Award.
Continuing our theme for this month of ‘unusual art forms’, here are 6 examples of art forms you may not have considered that young people can engage with as part of their Arts Award…
- Circus arts
As described in a blog post by the National Centre for Circus Arts, young people could learn circus skills such as juggling, tightwire, trapeze and acrobalance and could look at how staging affects a performance. They could also research the history of traditional circus and how this has affected circus in pop culture. They could review films such as ‘Dumbo’ and ‘Man on Wire’ and reflect on the inclusion of circus in performances by pop stars such as Pink and Britney Spears. Career pathways could be explored by talking to or researching circus artists.
- Gaming, coding and digital arts
At Orleans House Gallery, young people created digital games inspired by art, history and heritage. Using drawing, collage and mono printing, young people produced a catalogue of images that were uploaded onto a gaming platform. From there, they worked with an Interaction Designer to make their characters move, jump and spin through a game.
In a blog from EK Theater, find out how video gaming can be adapted into an arts activity, making cross curricular links into literature and drama, including a 2000 year old Greek tragedy! For other ideas exploring digital arts, take a look at this blog post and to read more about a Bronze coding project, check out this blog post.
- Cake decorating
Whilst the act of baking itself is (sadly!) not an activity suitable for Arts Award, cake decoration and creating sculptures with chocolate or sugar most certainly are. Just remember to view the cake as your ‘blank canvas’! Ensure that young people focus on the art they are creating on the cake and the creative impact of this (not the recipe or the baking techniques used).
Tie in with performing extracts from Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory for added literacy and performing arts elements.
- Music technology
Young people can use music technology to learn how to make music in a style they’re interested in. In a blog by Noise Solution, find out how their young people use blogging as their portfolio tool and how music technology has given them the confidence to interact with new things they’ve not done before.
- Technical theatre
Giving young people a ‘behind the scenes’ experience is a great way for them to work towards an Arts Award; they can have a tour of the theatre, explore how lighting and sound is created, understand how scenery operates, make props and design and make costumes. Read more in our blog posts from Blackpool’s Grand Theatre and Shooting Fish Theatre Company and Swale Youth.
- Architecture
Perhaps underutilised as a possibility for an Arts Award project but as this blog post explores, there are so many creative opportunities within architecture. From newspaper towers, spaghetti bridges, balloon chairs, junk modelling and skyscraper workshops – the possibilities for arts activities are endless!
Other unusual art forms that can be considered for an Arts Award are:
Curation, landscaping, journalism, arts management, make up art, comedy, comics, cartoon art and animation…
Whilst some young people will select an arts activity or challenge for their Arts Award that is clearly linked to their interest in a particular art form, others’ interests and passions may not be obviously arts-based. To help your young people identify a way of using their other interests as a stimulus for arts activity, start by using our ‘Appropriate art forms’ resource. You could also email us and we’d be happy to advise artsaward.enquiries@trinitycollege.com. We believe there is an art form out there that will interest everyone!
Image: Keys Meadow Primary School by Kirsten Holst
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