Supporting Young Minds: 2nd March – 1st April

The Supporting Young Minds programme gives young people a voice; giving them an opportunity to create place-changing artwork to help make their towns better places for young people to live; encouraging them to get outside, engage with the IW Biosphere, and be more physically active.

The young people involved in this project got to choose the type of artwork they produced and the professional artist they worked with. The work they have created is ambitious and is already having an impact in their communities.

The Sandown and Lake Youth Forum, supported by Community Action Isle of Wight and working with filmmaker Bruce Webb, have made a film about the challenges and benefits of living in the Bay area as a young person, particularly focusing on the limited youth provision and lack of safe spaces for young people to go.

Meanwhile, the Newport Youth Forum, based at Independent Arts, has been creating an art trail around Newport, working with artist Laura Hathaway – you may have seen the windows at the former Top Shop building and the wall behind the bus station – brightening up some of the unloved spaces in the town.

In Ventnor, young people from Brave Island, supported by Ventnor Exchange, are working with musician and visual artist Jess Ong, to turn an empty shop into a creative space for young people throughout March, and in Ryde, young people at Network Ryde, are hoping to transform some of the neglected and unloved spaces in their town.

Come and see this celebration of the young people’s vision and ambition for change.

This exhibition is part of Artwork’s Supporting Young Minds investment programme, delivered on the Isle of Wight through The Island Collection and managed by Independent Arts.