A free weekly art and food club for youngsters aged 13 to 17 will launch in Cliftonville on May 29.
Quench gallery and project space founders Lindsey Mendick and Guy Oliver say they are committed to providing free, fun and educational workshops to the community and passionate about access to the arts.
Last year the community leg of Quench was led by Gemma Pharo, who ran Quench Summer School (Crowd Fund Kent and NHS), as well as a year-long series of young people’s art workshops.
The new Quench Young Artists club is an open access weekly teen arts club,every Wednesday 4:30pm-7:30pm, at the gallery in Cliftonville Avenue, and will be led by Gemma and fellow youth worker Ellie Ward.
They say: “There is no other open access youth club running on this day in Thanet. Having worked on youth arts projects for three years, at the Pavilion Community Cafe, Arts Education Exchange, and during the Quench Summer School and youth art workshops, this is a gap we can fill. This project is fully funded to run for 16 weeks starting on May 29th.
“We will build young people’s confidence. Each young person will develop their own personal practice and/or take part in a group activity, with dinner provided by chef Jack Goldstein.
“Food is a key part of the programme and we will treat it as part of the creative education, each week trying new flavours and cuisines but always led by the young people’s favourite foods and interests.
“Each week we will work with a new material, building an artistic skill set. There will be the opportunity to display their work in local arts trails and the option to work towards Arts Award, a nationally recognised qualification.
“Also key to the course is, each week a young person attends they receive new free art materials to take home, building a kit of good quality tools to continue their practice at home.”
The Quench Young Artists project is funded by Thanet District Council as part of the Shared Prosperity Programme.
