Arts Unite – young people explore diversity and inclusion with a focus on disability, race, & gender identity

by: Sian Walters

Arts Unite, a partnership project between Arts Connection — Cyswllt Celf — and Credu, was an arts project with children and young people exploring diversity and inclusion with a focus on disability, race, gender identity. The project was funded by the Welsh Government Community Cohesion Programme.

Credu opened a conversation around LGBTQ & Trans at an Engage to Change event in late 2020. A focus group was formed made up of professionals, volunteers, parents and young people with an interest in addressing the challenges and gaining an understanding of what we could do to support the LGBTQ & trans community in Powys. We worked with young people who were LGBTQ+ and young people who were autistic and of different races. They didn’t feel that their voices were being heard or that their family or peers or those around them understood them or what they were going through. We worked in partnership with Credu support worker, Dux and with Martin Daws, a spoken word poet, to work with these young people to express themselves.

During the project they were given the opportunity to express themselves and created a safe space in which to do this. They created t-shirts, a zine, badges and took part in a live zoom conversation that was broadcast live on Facebook.

Some information sharing and personal experience started the Credu focus group and then some actions were identified to look at a way of using the arts to hear the voices of representatives of the LGBTQ and Trans experience in Powys.

Arts Connection – Cyswllt Celf seamlessly offered Credu an opportunity to do some creative writing workshops around hate crime and difference and the Credu group extended their interest group to also explore race and disability.

A Credu outreach worker, Dux, led on bringing the sessions together over Zoom with Martin Daws, who was the artist steering the sessions.

This has been a powerful project of hearing the voices of Young Carers, families and friends who are part of the LGBTQ+ community or wanted to explore hate crime with race. If you are interested in hearing about the challenges of being different in rural Mid-Wales come and listen.

Outcomes

  • Participants celebrated other cultures and lifestyles and this was also shared in the final event and was shared to the wider community through the final event and also through the disseminated art works

  • Conversations were had between participants and art works were created that we hope will prompt conversations between people

  • Those who participated explored the meaning of equality and diversity and will be sharing this wider with peers through the art works and assemblies

  • Stories of hate crime have been made more visible through the final event and art works created and supported those who have experienced this to feel that their voice has been heard

Sian Walters is the Arts Manager of Arts Connection — Cyswllt Celf