Out of your Shell

ArtStart 2007 NSW Youth Arts and Skills Festival

TAFE NSW Access and General Education Curriculum Centre invites you to visit www.artstart.com.au at 11.00 on 16 November 2007 for the first ArtStart online festival.

He’s shy, he’s slippery, he’s slimy and slightly too earnest. He’s the new ArtStart would-be super-hero. He makes his debut at the ArtStart online festival on 16 November 2007. And he’ll never go back into his shell again!  Created by young animator, Tim Andrews, this short animation is just one of the exciting works featured during the two week ArtStart festival period (16-30 November).

ArtStart is a NSW Government initiative for young people aged 12 to 24, managed by TAFE NSW Access and General Education Curriculum Centre. The program funds opportunities for young people to develop skills by participating in arts and cultural projects and performing and exhibiting their work.

This year, more than 200 ArtStart projects have involved over 6,000 young people across 23 community organisations. The workshops, exhibitions and performances have featured drumming, digital story telling, mosaics, garden design theatre, wearable art, hip-hop dancing, stencil art, multimedia and much more.

ArtStart reflects the art forms and issues engaging young people today. The festival’s move into cyberspace means that young artists can share their work and ideas with a wide range of peers – no matter where they live.  Young people will have access to a much larger audience for their work, not only because they will be connected to other ArtStart groups, but because they will be able to plug into the global arts community.

The festival also launches the new ArtStart website. As well as an exhibition space, the site is a forum for creative exchange, information and networking.   The ArtStart online community www.artstart.com.au will be a permanent and ongoing resource.

For more information about the ArtStart program contact the ArtStart State Coordinator at Access and General Education Curriculum Centre: 02 9846 8101, artstart@tafensw.edu.au