Arts organisation Out of the Blue have started something new called #artcore, a two year youth arts programme aimed at getting young people involved in creativity across the city.
The two year project is a collaboration with 13 Edinburgh arts and community organisations, part of Time to Shine and supported by Creative Scotland. It will provide opportunities for young people to get involved in a host of free activities, including music making, animation, gaming, creative writing and theatre.
The #artcore project offers many opportunities for 13 – 25 year olds to take part in creative projects and will offer 4 young people aged 16 – 24, the chance to work as paid Creative Apprentices. The experimental microprojects, launched this week, include a radio play and music demos. A vibrant showcase platform in May will give the first of many opportunities for young people to show their creative mettle.
Since its birth in a small shop space 20 years ago, Out of the Blue has grown to running the multi arts and studio base at the Drill Hall in Leith and the Bongo Club, a mainstay of the Edinburgh music scene. Now the dynamic arts and community organisation is working closely with many other Edinburgh arts organisations to create a new scene for young people in the city.
#artcore Project Manager, Johnny Gailey, explains the ideas behind the project:
“Edinburgh’s well known for its festivals of arts and culture. We want to support young people in the city to develop and create their own scene – giving them the chance to record, perform on stage and produce animations and fanzines. We’re looking forward to getting blown away by the creativity of young people in the city”
#artcore is one of nine new regional youth arts hubs created to establish Time to Shine. Time to Shine is Scotland’s first National Youth Arts Strategy and sets out a vision and key recommendations to enable Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve, in and through arts and creativity.
Colin Bradie, Youth Arts Programme Manager at Creative Scotland, said:
“One of the 9 new regional Youth Arts Hubs established to implement Time To Shine, #artcore represents a dynamic consortium of partners who will be working together to improve the provision of youth arts in Edinburgh through an innovative programme of employment initiatives, artistic collaborations and arts events for young people. #artcore, alongside the other Youth Arts Hubs, is working to support the aspirations of Time To Shine, a national strategy that aims to support all Scotland’s children and young people to flourish and achieve in and through the arts and creativity.”
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
