Local charities Diaspora Arts & Education Charity and Community First (Peterborough) teamed up this weekend to brighten up the city centre on a cold winter’s day as local artists worked with Community First’s Nex-Gen group.
The group is open to young people between the age of 11 and 18 and usually meet every Friday at Gladstone Park Community Centre and have been working alongside Diaspora to give young people in Millfield and Gladstone a chance to come together and develop new skills.
On Saturday (December 19) they worked on a range of art installations at the Taverners Road underpass alongside local artists Anchal Bhaku, Akriti Gupta, Amanda Robertson and Edward J Clark, who have each been commissioned by Diaspora to create artwork at the site.
Both the Nex-Gen’s creations and the commissioned pieces will be displayed together as part of an underground gallery and form part of the Arts Against Racism project, funded by the National Lottery Community Fund and Near Neighbours, who offer grants to local organisations working to bring communities together.
The event gave the young people the change to create art that meant something to them. The youngest collaborator, Eric (11), created a pop art style print of his favourite rapper, “Pop Smoke,” using a stencil he made himself.
The artists in attendance also drew inspiration from what had already been written on the walls of the underpass. Anna Nayyar, inspired by graffiti which read “I woke up today and hate myself”, showed that someone is always there to listen by painting a heart for the original artist.
Meanwhile, Amanda Robertson began a new collaboration with Charron Pugsley- Hill, repairing her original work which was recently vandalised by adding to the piece in her own style and Ed Robertson created an autumnal scene, complimenting the work of Tony Nero.
Helen Walkinshaw, Community Development Worker at Community First (Peterborough) said: “Our young people have been really inspired by the artworks created by Diaspora Art & Education Charity and wanted to have a chance to do something like that themselves.
“The artists who have been working with them have really helped them develop their confidence and find their own voices and they are delighted that people will see what they have achieved every day as they walk through the underpass.
“Eric and all our young artists have really enjoyed being part of this project and they definitely feel more responsible for this area since they have helped paint it. In just a few weeks we have seen them mature and flourish and we can’t wait to see what the group achieves next year.”
Karima Shah, Project Lead at Diaspora Arts & Education Charity, added: “We are grateful to Community first’s Nex-Gen youth group who introduced us to their amazing group of budding artists.
“We taught them how to utilise the arts to create a series of murals and positive graffiti art to transform the environment being targeted into a positive space that reflects the multicultural/faith community we live
in.
“We hope that this will empower the people who live here and impact positively on our daily lives, and bring a message of peace.”
Artist Amanda said: “It was wonderful working with the children to produce stencils and see their art coming alive. It’s a great way to engage with them, talk about art and encourage their creative goals. I’m looking forward to working with them more on this project, it would be amazing to spread colour throughout the city!
“There is something very special about creating art (or music/crafting) alongside people, it’s therapeutic and the brain is in a positive, inspired mode so it’s an excellent time to share ideas and look to the future.
