At the heart of PAW is passing on a love for art to young people. We work closely with local schools to celebrate and encourage art, and each year we try and involve around 500 Purbeck Young Artists (PYA) in creative activities. Students are encouraged to develop art works on the festival theme, which this year is ‘Nature and the Environment’. The workshops have been coordinated by Sophie Jenkins and are delivered by an amazing team of local artists with a wealth of experience of working with young people. This year the range of workshops includes, ceramics, painting banners, sculptures from nature, mosaics and 3D art using recycled materials. You could see the inspiring results in the byre at Rollington Barn.
We would like to express our heartfelt thanks to The Friends of the Festival and to all our Sponsors for supporting our work with young people – without them, we would not have so many opportunities to spread the joy of art so widely. We would also like to thank the schools and teachers involved this year for recognising the importance of art and creativity for young peoples’ development and helping to produce some awe-inspiring work.