a calico creative project
contents
Introduction..............................................................01 What is the Street Art Project? Aims and Objectives
artists........................................................................02 workshops............................................................03-04 Street art celebration............................................05 Performances Finished Street Art
summary...............................................................06-07 How successful was it? Testimonials
report overview of event and result
What is the street art project? The event was initiated by RingStones to celebrate International Youth Day. RingStones had expansion plans which involved building a new office on Gunsmith Place, Burnley and required hoardings on the ground floor of Calico HQ. It was envisaged that something creative could be done with the hoardings in terms of artwork seen by members of staff and the general public. By moving away from typical community based icons and stamps, we recruited a local yet internationally known graffiti artist called Bizzy. He is renowned for graffiti art that both stands out and resembles 3D imagery. Alongside Bizzy we recruited other established and emerging artists. We asked Bizzy to consider the design and concept which would incorporate a message that illustrated RingStones, building blocks and futures. These could represent careers, aspiration, progression and achievement. We used the corporate colours of RingStones to maintain consistency. Graffiti is a celebrated art form associated with urban street art and hip hop culture which includes: Graffiti is the writing of language that documents the history or a moment in time. Emcee is the spoken method of conveying a message, the conveyor of the Message. DJing is the heart beat, the drum of the art or movement; DJ comes from DJembe drum. B-Boy/Girl is the exercise and the human expression through dance or body movement to keep the body in proper health. Knowledge is the reason why we are who we are, where our roots comes from, what is the beginning of Man and where we are today. How do we take the artistic expression of Hip Hop and find out purpose in LIFE. It was proposed that workshops and performances would take place between Tuesday 1st September 2015 and Friday 4th September. We felt workshops would help young people learn and share their creative expression in a hands on practical way.
aims and objectives Create workshops, artwork and performances with the support of local artists, young people and staff.
Provide a platform for local artists and young people to express and showcase their creativity. To celebrate International Youth Day and spread a positive message using art, music and words. 01
Artists involved It was important for us to work with local artists in order to showcase the talent within the area. Working within a 6 mile radius, we where able to find local artists and provided them with a platform in which their talents could be shared, inspiring young people, and everyone involved.
BIZZY Bizzy is an established local Graffiti Artist, with a unique style. Excited with the opportunity, Bizzy was proactive in delivering both workshops and live production of the graffiti mural. He involved both young people and staff to produce the final artwork.
denzle/ denham skelton Extremely talented Denham is 19 years old and holds a bright future in spoken word and rap. Hosting his first ever workshop, Denham taught young people how to write verses for live performance and production. Denham performed alongside Karlow to further inspire young people and share his talent.
02
Seek The Northerner/ Simon Abbott ‘Seek The Northerner’ aka Simon Abbott, has years of experience with ‘The Street Life Trust’. Being a former B-Boy British champion and rapper, Simon successfully engaged with the young people through workshops and music production to showcase their potential.
Unfranchised/Harry Gallagher Harry, a DJ/Music Producer is part of a trio of DJ’s who form the group known as ‘Unfranchised’. They focus on modern sounds from house music to techno. Harry mentored the young people involved who where able to produce their own track by mixing two songs of choice together.
Karlow/Brad Reynolds Ben Karlow aka Karlow, born and raised in Burnley, speaks about his local area and life experiences. Ben contributed with his creative writing workshops he hosted. Karlow pushed the growth and recognition of the participant’s skills.
Lickety Split Digital/ Nathaniel Evans Nathaniel, owner of digital company ‘Lickety Split’ filmed the entire Street Art Project into a short 90 second and 3 minute clip to showcase the entire project. Nathaniel also hosted his own workshop teaching young people how to create a music video. This included filming, sound, and editing skills.
Workshops The workshops where designed to engage young people to embrace and explore their newly creative talents, focusing on lyric writing, performing and graffiti art. Providing a positive and productive activity. This also allowed participants to perfect an art and focus on self development in terms of confidence and opportunity.
1st sept
Graffiti art
NUMBER OF days PEOPLE INVOLVED =4 NUMBER OF young people INVOLVED =4 NUMBER OF staff INVOLVED = 5 03
The graffiti art workshop was scheduled to run throughout all four days. Bizzy mentored participants and taught them skills on how to spray paint correctly, delegating sections for them to paint. A final outcome of artwork was created that would be seen by hundreds of people passing by.
This workshop was set up to provide an outlet for personal and topical themes. Hosted by Seek, Karlow and Denzle, they mentored young people and helped them write lyrics that included their hobbies, style and positive attitude. They put pen to paper and wrote verses ready to perform to a beat.
NUMBER OF days INVOLVED = 4 NUMBER OF young PEOPLE INVOLVED =6 NUMBER OF staff INVOLVED = 20
lyrics + Poetry rap writing
2nd sept
The workshop hosted by Seek and Unfranchised focused on engaging young people with music creation. Giving them the opportunity to use DJ decks and music production software. Participants would be able to perform the lyrics they wrote on Tuesday’s workshop accompanied by their newly created backing track.
DJ + Mixing
NUMBER OF days INVOLVED = 1 NUMBER OF young people INVOLVED =3 NUMBER OF staff INVOLVED = 2
3rd sept NUMBER OF days INVOLVED = 1 NUMBER OF young people INVOLVED =2
04
The final workshop focused on combining all skills learnt and material produced from the days prior to this. The initial workshops provided participants with confidence, lyrics and backing tracks. They were ready to film and edit a music video with Lickety Split Digital. Denzle taught vocal performance skills and body posture.
music video production
4th sept Street art celebration We successfully to conclude the project by showcasing the talents of participating artists and young people, sharing the development with an audience of staff members from the Calico Group.
NUMBER OF Performances = 3 NUMBER OF Audience = 45
performances The hosts presented songs/lyrics in front of Calico employees, workshop attendees and other spectators. They performed relevant and clean lyrics inspired by the values of Calico and RingStones. They also provided guidance and support to the young people who attended the workshops, showcasing what talents they have with the capability of performing and the potential they can have when committing to something.
finished street art With involvement from young people, artists, Calico employees, and the community, the street art was completed successfully. The finished work is themed on community, growth, development and illustrated through building blocks. The engagement with young people embodies this theme and provides something unique and creative that can be shared and remembered by everyone. 05
summary
how successful was it? The schedule and timetable of the event was completed successfully as planned, with all workshops running efficiently, and artwork created on time. The event proved to be very successful as shown with the finished product, feedback, and has also been filmed to showcase and highlight the activities. All participants involved expressed enthusiasm and enjoyment visually, and all audiences showed appreciation. Click on these links: www.vimeo.com/142365840 www.vimeo.com/142520770
testimonials “Having worked in the same location as Calico Creative but not the same department, I’ve often wondered what their work entails. I soon found out last Friday and was very impressed to witness their great work on the Street Art Project. Dale the young rapper and Denzle were excellent and I would like to congratulate the whole team on their exemplary work!”
- Sarita Fisk “Elad says he had an awesome time, even though he was very nervous as he didn’t know what to expect, he was soon put at ease and had the best time ever and really enjoyed his time with you all”
- young person (can’t be named for safeguarding reasons) “The professionalism of your team with the children was outstanding, even though I didn’t know what to expect there was never a dull moment and I would recommend your project to anyone.”
- Zoe Taylor 06
Testimonials
“I would like to take this opportunity to thank Calico for giving my two sons and myself a fantastic and unique experience. The last 4 days of their summer holidays will be some of the most memorable and I truly believe that they did not only learn about the creative arts of hip hop but also received lessons in generosity, humility and individuality. Everyone involved was so generous with their time and knowledge. Having 4 whole days to really get their teeth into the project was brilliant and meant not only could they learn the skills more thoroughly than a day workshop but could also build a proper rapport with the experts they were working with. It was a shame more young people could not get involved as many had already gone back for school. However for me and my kids it made it even more special as we worked solely with Bizzy the graffiti artist most of the time. It’s unusual to hold the attention of 14 and 10 yr old boys for 4 whole days but their attention was certainly held and it was such a pleasure to have the excuse to spend my time with them doing something so positive and creative. Reggie even admitted to Harrison at one point that he was too “into” the graffiti to eat!! In a time when interesting youth work projects are so thin on the ground I feel really honoured that we were able to be a part of this one and really hope that Calico will be able to do something as interesting again. Thank you.”
- Ceri Carmichael
07
CALICO Creative We are a youth led design agency specialising in various creative fields, for example, graphic design, illustration, video/editing, and community based projects. We are a platform for young people to learn, develop, and create high quality digital content to all types of businesses. Calico Creative is a portal to creativity, hosting events and art projects. We are young people on a journey and are passionate about sharing and promoting creative learning within the community.
Join us! Tel: 01282 686511 Hafsa Siddiq Harrison Hunt Rizwan Iqbal
hsiddiq@calico.org.uk hhunt@calico.org.uk riqbal@calico.org.uk
Graphic Designer Junior Graphic Designer Creative Manager