This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Celebrating our Future Artists
Did you know that every penny of income we receive goes directly back into teaching art and giving local youngsters the opportunity to explore their creativity?
Thanks to our donations from you, and investments from our incredible funders, 2024 saw a record-breaking year for our Young Artists Programme.
2024 saw the Young Artist’s programme expand, with an increase of Inclusion Projects. Our Inclusion Projects are vital for local young people who attend, who wouldn’t normally get the opportunity to experience visual arts and culture.
From cultural camps for targeted young people, to working onsite at secondary schools, these incredible initiatives, in partnership with local youth partners, seek to reach out beyond the studio walls and give young and often vulnerable young people the chance to to re-engage in learning in a creative yet nurturing setting.
“Culture Camp has lit a fire under my daughter who has been struggling for years with her mental health. She is feeling inspired and motivated which is wonderful to see.”
Parent
Highlights from the 2024 Young Artist’s Programme
Culture Camp for Nine Maidens Academy
In early 2024, a Culture Camp project kicked off with Nine Maidens Academy, for a small group of young people who were selected by the Academy. The Academy believed the young people were ready to experience activities outside of school to help with their progress.
The Camp consisted of five artist-led sessions, and as well as workshops at the St Ives School of Painting, the group were able to visit Tate St Ives, and learn about the history of Leach Pottery, and make some pinch pots in clay. The Culture Camp was an accredited project, the qualification being a Bronze Arts Award which is half a GCSE in Art.
All the young people passed their Bronze Arts Award and we visited the young people a few months later following their GCSE exams to check in and present them with their certificates. The Academy proudly displayed the young people’s art work and as part of a celebration of their award, they were each presented with an Art Hamper, to keep making art at home.
Well done to all the young people involved!
A big thank you to Taylor Money for their generous funding for this project.
Culture Camp for CLEAR Trauma Charity
This Culture Camp project, in partnership with trauma and emotional therapy specialists, CLEAR, ran for two months for a group of young people aged 11 to 19 who had recently finished their allotted trauma counselling sessions with CLEAR therapists.
In addition to helping the young people achieve their Bronze Arts Award through Trinity College, the Camp gave them an opportunity to feel more confident in making art, try out new things, explore new ways of expressing themselves and gain confidence in meeting new people.
We are thrilled to say that all of the engaged young people achieved their Bronze Arts Award. This is big achievement for these young people – 29% of the group are not in education or training.
The young people’s artwork was then exhibited in the CLEAR charity shop on Cathedral Lane in Truro for 1 week, which gave them a huge sense of achievement.
Congratulations to all!
A big thank you to Taylor Money for their generous funding for this project.
The Decks Project in partnership with Salvation Army
St Ives School of Painting’s partnership with the Salvation Army started in 2023, with ‘Colour Your Summer’. This partnership aims to bring together the young people of St Ives that access the Salvation Army, with creative activities run by St Ives School of Painting.
In 2024, the partnership was redesigned into an engagement project called ‘The Decks Project’. This combined street art and skateboarding, a dream for any young person looking for activities on a Friday night, right?
As well as learning to skate on a pop-up skatepark in the Salvation Army building with professional skateboarding coaches from Coach Frank, the young people were also given the chance to refurbish old skateboarding decks which they could keep. St Ives School of Painting led the workshop and provided acrylic POSCA pens and pre-primed skateboarding decks.
Needless to say, the whole project went down a storm with the young people – keep shreddin’!
A big thank you to Little Parc Owles, St Town Council and Salvation Army.
Natural Forms Project with Community and Hospital Education Service
Our partnership with the Community and Hospital Education Service (CHES) enables an inclusion project for a group of young people who are too ill to go to school due to a range of health issues, they all attend CHES whether it’s part-time or online.
The project for them features a number of creative workshops, led by a variety of artists – these can range from workshops in the studio painting and making, to trips out to museums and gardens to photograph and draw.
The aim of the project is to help young people free up creatively and to support their wellbeing. We offer a space that’s free of judgement, free of barriers and grades. The young people are able to get new creative ideas and approaches, work with a practicing artist, and get new insights into what art can be – something that they wouldn’t have been able to access easily before.
We have seen that breaking down barriers and increasing their confidence transforms young peoples aspirations.
A big thank you to Taylor Money for their generous funding for this project.
An Exhibition with CLEAR – Trauma and Emotional Therapy Specialists
To celebrate the incredible achievement by the young people who attended our CLEAR Culture Camp, in partnership with CLEAR, we put on an exhibition in Truro showcasing the young people’s inspirational work.
More than 300 members of the public viewed the exhibition and a celebration of achievements evening was held for the young people. They came with carers, parents, and siblings, with food and drink provided, speeches and a presentation of images about the project, it was an unforgettable event for the young people – and us!
How you can support us
We are extremely grateful for the support from our incredible funders, Taylor Money, St Ives Town Council, Little Parc Owles and St Ives Rotary – but did you know that your course purchases and donations all help as well?
You are investing back into teaching art and giving local youngsters the opportunity to explore their creativity. So, thank you.
how to donate
5/2/2025
Share on
Related Stories
St Ives Past & Present
Experience the history of the St Ives art scene through this collection of films featuring St Ives School of Painting and the importance of St Ives and Porthmeor Studios as an artists’ colony. Since 1938. A glimpse into St Ives and the St Ives School of Painting originally established here in 1938 by Leonard Fuller....
The Sunday Times: The Art of Learning
As seen in… Is it a bird, is it a plane? Our budding Rothko, Sean Newsom, signs up for an abstract art class in St Ives. Can I remind you that this jumble of fisherman cottages and harbour walls was also – for a time – the forcing house of British abstract art? – When...
How to Develop Your Unique Artistic Style
At times, we can all feel isolated and stuck within our creative boundaries, or within our art practices. Artists spend so much time alone, in their homes or studios, trying to create fresh work, but without the motivation or critical eye of supportive peers. Read more on how to develop your unique artistic style. One...