WHALE Arts

🟪 MEET THE FINALISTS! 🟡 Nominations for the 2024 Creative Edinburgh Awards opened earlier this year and we loved seeing the creative community sending in applications for themselves, their peers, and the projects that have inspired them over the past 12 months. Nominations could be submitted into any of the ten Awards Categories, including two new categories for this year - the Development Award and the Festivals Award. Once nominations closed, all applications were reviewed by a panel of expert judges and peers from the creative industries. For each Awards Category, a shortlist of finalists was determined, not an easy task given the amazing initiatives and creative work happening in our city! We are now excited to share the shortlisted finalists for the 2024 Creative Edinburgh Awards! See the full list on our website linked below and join us on Friday 15 November to celebrate all those nominated, the shortlisted finalists, and the wider Edinburgh creative community at the Awards Ceremony and end of year party! 🤩 🥳 https://lnkd.in/eDrNmKpp

Wonderful morning with the team from WHALE Arts exploring communication through LEGO® SERIOUS PLAY®. On a day when the creative sector is faced with yet more challenging news it’s always a privilege to support those organisations providing vital access to arts and culture to Scottish communities #FundTheArts

#CultureMakes Educational Benefit (part 1/2) 📍 Since 2022, Kala Sangam has hosted a Schools Takeover Week in their building, working with 12 local primary schools, the majority of whom are from the BD3 area of Bradford. The takeover week consists of 7 days’ worth of arts activity from bhangra dancing to rap. 'Children were engaged and expressed themselves using dance, rap and creativity' (Teacher, Thornbury Primary Leadership Academy) Find out more about Kala Sangam's Schools Takeover Week, returning this October: https://lnkd.in/eVNkaDXB 📍 Staying in Yorkshire, Thirsk-based Rural Arts works with around 450 pupils at two primary schools on the Imaginosity project. Imaginosity is a systemic creative programme that uses creativity, imagination and curiosity to improve outcomes for children and young people: https://lnkd.in/ey4sbRxp Imaginosity was a a finalist in the prestigious Northern Cultural Education Awards for Innovation & Leadership in Education in May 2024. 📍 Also in Yorkshire, Harrogate Theatre works in 12 schools each year to deliver its fantastic after school programme. Over a term primary school pupils learn performance and teamwork skills through learning a classic story and performing it in the Studio. As part of the afternoon they also get a tour of the theatre which sparks their imaginations even more. These clubs have been delivered for over 10 years and Harrogate Theatre is thrilled to see children signing up year on year and hearing how teachers have adapted the exercises for their own work in the classroom. 'I thought that the whole experience was absolutely fantastic. I was truly amazed at the quality of the children’s work, all down to your superb teaching! They were ‘buzzing’ from the experience and parents were so proud of them – as was I.' (Headteacher) 📍 This summer, in Edinburgh, WHALE Arts ran a Riso Summer Club for 15-17 year olds, where the young people created designs and learned how to use the riso printer. They collaborated with the local high school art teachers, who were also keen to come along and learn for themselves! Some of the young people created prints to be part of their SQA Art & Design portfolios, and WHALE Arts hopes to continue the collaboration with a riso-printed project tied into one of the schools' SQA qualifications, printing the final design outcomes at WHALE.

#CultureMakes Educational Benefit (part 1/2) 📍 Since 2022, Kala Sangam has hosted a Schools Takeover Week in their building, working with 12 local primary schools, the majority of whom are from the BD3 area of Bradford. The takeover week consists of 7 days’ worth of arts activity from bhangra dancing to rap. 'Children were engaged and expressed themselves using dance, rap and creativity' (Teacher, Thornbury Primary Leadership Academy) Find out more about Kala Sangam's Schools Takeover Week, returning this October: https://lnkd.in/eVNkaDXB 📍 Staying in Yorkshire, Thirsk-based Rural Arts works with around 450 pupils at two primary schools on the Imaginosity project. Imaginosity is a systemic creative programme that uses creativity, imagination and curiosity to improve outcomes for children and young people: https://lnkd.in/ey4sbRxp Imaginosity was a a finalist in the prestigious Northern Cultural Education Awards for Innovation & Leadership in Education in May 2024. 📍 Also in Yorkshire, Harrogate Theatre works in 12 schools each year to deliver its fantastic after school programme. Over a term primary school pupils learn performance and teamwork skills through learning a classic story and performing it in the Studio. As part of the afternoon they also get a tour of the theatre which sparks their imaginations even more. These clubs have been delivered for over 10 years and Harrogate Theatre is thrilled to see children signing up year on year and hearing how teachers have adapted the exercises for their own work in the classroom. 'I thought that the whole experience was absolutely fantastic. I was truly amazed at the quality of the children’s work, all down to your superb teaching! They were ‘buzzing’ from the experience and parents were so proud of them – as was I.' (Headteacher) 📍 This summer, in Edinburgh, WHALE Arts ran a Riso Summer Club for 15-17 year olds, where the young people created designs and learned how to use the riso printer. They collaborated with the local high school art teachers, who were also keen to come along and learn for themselves! Some of the young people created prints to be part of their SQA Art & Design portfolios, and WHALE Arts hopes to continue the collaboration with a riso-printed project tied into one of the schools' SQA qualifications, printing the final design outcomes at WHALE.

Say hello to the newest member of Future Arts Centres! Set up by local people in 1992 and based in the purpose built WHALE Arts Centre in Wester Hailes, Edinburgh, we're delighted to welcome WHALE Arts on board. With a mission to be the creative heart of a vibrant, thriving community, WHALE Arts provides a wide range of creative opportunities, classes and workshops for the people of Wester Hailes, as well as hosting several other community-facing organisations and services. To find out more about the great work they do, visit their website: https://lnkd.in/erkiRKwr

It took a village to set up this creative space in 1992. Since then, WHALE Arts 🎭 🎨has been the creative heart of their vibrant community in this part of Scotland.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 We spent some time at their centre and participated in an activity that is essentially art therapy. The assignment was simple: as #90YouthVoices for the Future, we were asked to write or draw our call to action ✊🏽 or advocacies in what looks like sign boards that were previously painted on a tote bag. I was midway done with my painting when Ollie, one of the volunteers at the centre, came over and started talking to me about their work. What I find most important in what they do is how they use art to comfort the disturbed. He said they have been doing creative workshops with children, young parents, and adults. With this, the people in their community seize power from whatever disturbs their minds. I can tell how these sessions provided calm and a sense of belongingness after I finished mine. I deeply resonate with their work and find connection in the outputs of the children exhibited in the halls of the studio. In the 🇵🇭 , sometime in 2017, when there was a massive militarization of the ancestral lands of indigenous peoples in the southern part of the country, they sought refuge in the metro. There, I also volunteered in the teaching camps and led some art therapy sessions. Their outputs show how deeply troubled they were by the militarization. This tells us that the children, the future of our nations, may have different struggles from different parts of the world. And art, in one way or another, is a powerful tool to unite them to fight for a better world. 🌎 I finished my painting with this call: DARE TO STRUGGLE. DARE TO WIN. ❤️🫶🏽 #YouthConnect #BritishCouncil90 #CulturalRelations #Art #Creative

The British Council was founded in 1934. We are marking our 90th anniversary in several ways. '90 Youth Voices for the Future' brought 90 young leaders from across the globe to the UK for a week of connecting, sharing and learning. 20 of them visited Edinburgh for a few days recently, and we are so grateful to our partners for helping to give them a memorable experience. Read about the visit here 👇 https://lnkd.in/giSrWi8f WHALE Arts Scottish Youth Parliament Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh CodeBase #youthconnect #90youthvoices #BritishCouncil90