07 February 2017

Teen art project benefits from Creative Communities funding

Palmerston North Library’s Youth Space recently hosted a small exhibition of stencilled art created by a group of teenagers during a school holiday workshop. Local artist Gemma Farrell (aka Gembol) ran the Swamp City Stencil Art workshops over six sessions with the assistance of a Creative Communities Scheme grant.

Gemma Farrell wanted to give young people an opportunity to create something over the holidays. “Stencil art is an art form inspired by street art and is relatable to the age group,” says Gemma. “It is accessible to everyone and a unique form of expression.”

The workshops were held at UCOL where the participants worked on concepts, developed their imagery and created stencils using a projector. The most time consuming part of the project was gradually cutting out the stencils using blades and cutting mats.

“Stencil making is a long process as you build you many layers of colour.” Those many layers of sprayed paint were applied at Gemma Farrell’s working studio – ‘In the Shade’. “The actual spray painting doesn’t take too long. It is all the preparation work that takes up a lot of the time.”

There was much enthusiasm from the six teenagers aged between 16 -19 who worked both collaboratively and individually on their works. They enjoyed working together and achieved a sense of pride from creating something others admired. They also expressed some disbelief and delight at producing so many works of such high quality.

Farrell is keen to repeat the workshops and the youth are keen to continue with creating art from the knowledge of the process they learnt through the workshop.

Creative Communities Funding Opens

Organisers of cultural and artistic projects at the planning stage are invited to apply for the next round of funding through the Creative Communities scheme. The scheme aims to increase local participation in a diverse range of cultural and art related activities.

The Creative Communities scheme is a partnership between Creative New Zealand and Palmerston North City Council. Projects must meet at least one of three criteria: community participation, diversity or engagement of youth.

The next round of funding opens on 1 March and closes Monday 10 April. Application forms are available from Palmerston North City Council Customer Service Centre and the City Library. Application forms and guidelines can be accessed on www.pncc.govt.nz

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