Here is Ameela Ghani (another work experience student) discussing her experience at Eastwood’s Community Centre this week.
As a college student and on work experience at ROAR, I have had the pleasure to take part in a project alongside the Eastwood community called Dangerous Art School. This particular event allows people to meet and take part in artistic and cultural activities. Its a place of fun and opportunity for people living within their borough.
ROAR organised the activities which were part of the day, whilst Eastwood Community Centre provides the space and organised the children. ROAR decided to do some ‘dangerous art’ as this would intrigue the children and make them want to take part.
ROAR’s purpose is to bolster art in Rotherham. Promoting the arts as away of bring people together and expression of unity. It was fulfilling seeing a diverse group of children from different backgrounds and ethnicity coming together and engaging in work. The day allowed them to experiment which is an important element of child development.
The first activity was pebble painting where they had the freedom to create whatever pattern or image they desired to paint. This was an independent activity as they had to wash and dry the pebbles before painting them. They even had the opportunity to create pebble towers outdoors and had a competition on who can create the tallest tower!
Furthermore, they gained cultural experience by creating Tibet pray flags; it was fascinating to see children come up with their own wishes and prays. One child simply wrote ‘have fun everyday’; others created beautiful floral designs and drawings. The flags were hung them up on a pole outside the centre.
The children's favourite activity was doing blind drawings. It was hilarious seeing their friends reaction to their portraits of them which have been drawn without seeing the paper they were using.
The last activity was dress up. We made a small photography studio where we made a photo shoot of the children dressing up in fancy dress attire and having fun with their friends. The local police officers even came along and joined in this activity which was amusing to see!
Overall this was a wonderful experience for me and the children. They were so thrilled and excited about this project they came into the community centre the following day asking if they could do these activities all over again! There was a lot of happy faces and positive feedback.