Young people in Shepton Mallet are getting serious about arts! 

Ambassadors meet monthly at Paul Street Community Centre in Shepton Mallet.

Six primary schools across the town have selected 21 Arts ambassadors to represent their school from ages 6-11. Children are chosen for a range of reasons - for their passion for the arts, they might not be able to access this provision elsewhere, for the benefits it might bring to confidence, for the need for a space to stretch and grow creativity.

 

The groups are brought together as part of a project run by Make the Sunshine and supported by Mendip District Council and Shepton Mallet Town Council.

During the sessions young people learn about different art forms and team working skills - from drama to dance, puppetry to portraiture. They get to run question and answer sessions with professional performers and artists as well as exploring and deepening their understanding of arts in local area.

So far they have run a Q&A with professional actor Angela Smith who performs with internationally celebrated theatre company Vamos. Children learned about mask artists and mine artists and even got to see one of the masks in action! The group have met with the Town Council's project officer, artist Jasmine Collings and a range of other professional practitioners.

Shepton’s Arts Ambassadors also led the programming for All the World's Our Playground theatre programme in July. Ambassadors learnt about some of the things you need to think about when choosing performance companies - accessibility, budgeting, suitability, creating a balanced programme, travel and used these tools to select their favourite acts.

The scheme is accredited meaning that young people gain Arts Award Explore qualification as part of the programme which will be awarded by Trinity College in London.

One participant said “It was so fun. I loved meeting people from other schools. I loved all of it”

Sessions are run by Jane Barry and Louise Lappin-Cook.The Arts Ambassadors Programme has been supported by Mendip Council and Shepton Mallet Town Council.

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Feedback from our Arts Ambassadors included:

100% said they had enjoyed the programme and learnt new things

100% wanted to continue

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"It has helped her confidence grow and shine. With this I would love for her to do more of this sort of thing", parent

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"XX has thoroughly enjoyed the Arts programme. She has learnt new techniques and been able to share them with her classmates at school. Thank you.", parent

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“I was genuinely amazed by the process and how you got the children to understand programming, this has been such an important experience", Holly Wilson, Bowlish Infant School

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This is a partnership project with St Paul's CofE VC Junior School, St Aldhelm's, Bowlish Infants, Shepton Mallet Infants, Croscombe and Stoke St Michael and Make the Sunshine.