Our first adviser to be interviewed is the lovely Nova Marshal
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Name
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Nova Marshall
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Company/School/Group
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Aim4 Partnerships
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Artform(s)
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Visual art – ranging from sculpture, printmaking, photography, collage, collaborative painting, textiles, graphic design, site-specific art installations
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Where are you based
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Margate, Kent
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Registered Centre Name(s)
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Aim4 Partnerships (I am also linked to Turner Contemporary and Kemsley Community House)
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Hi Nova, to begin with can you tell us in what settings have you delivered Arts Award?
I have delivered the arts award in a number of settings:
- Working with a youth group (6 – 11 years) as part of a housing association (informal setting)
- Working as part of Turner Contemporary, in an outreach youth setting (11 years +)
- Working with a Young Adult Parents group as part of a Children’s Centre
What has your best experience been?
Working with the children from the youth group within their community was a rewarding experience for me and for them. I had gone into the project to be an additional youth worker/artist, however during the time I was working there I wanted to be able to make a really positive impact. Through discussions with the staff, we created an art project around World War 1 that would enable the children to achieve Arts Award Discover. Many of these children visited an art gallery and took part in the gallery’s creative workshop for the very first time.
Do you have an arts award story?
As an adviser, I worked with a young woman who was part of a Young Adult Parents Group. Whilst she attended each week, she was fairly hostile about what she was prepared to do and what she wasn’t. One week, an issue regarding taking photographs became apparent. She explained to me that she was very unhappy about her photograph being taken as she had body-images issues. I explained to her that we needed to take photos as proof of her involvement as part of the wider project. I suggested a way that we could take photos of her that didn’t have to include her whole body, in which she agreed. Each week she would look at any photos taken of her self, delete the ones she didn’t like and keep the ones she did.
At the end of one particular week, she came up to me and said that I was the first person to really listen to her and to understand her needs. From this moment onwards, each week she became more confident and her self-esteem began to grow. By the end of the 13-week project, she had lost weight through a process of healthy eating and started to really consider her future, not only for herself but her children too. She achieved her Bronze Arts Award and took part in a celebration event.
She is now doing an apprenticeship at a health and beauty salon and is really enjoying learning skills, meeting new people and earning some money.
This is not a typical arts award story but just by listening and supporting her, she was able to take the next step in transforming her life.
What is challenging about the award?
The structure of each award can seem quite ‘fixed’ but with some creative thinking you can find different ways of tackling this and documenting work.
Children and young people work at different paces and can be working on different elements of the award, so it can be challenging to keep up with where they are in their arts award journey.
Time – making the best of the time that you have with the group is vital so they remain on track to achieve the award.
What advice would you give other advisers?
- You need to be very organised so you have a grip on where each person is in their personal learning journey.
- If you don’t already, get to know each child/young person so you can best advise them when working on their award.
- Being open and flexible is essential.
