Energiser Fund: Early Years Everyday Art School
This vibrant series of participatory workshops exploring creativity, wellbeing and foundational early years skills is only open to families referred to us by Afrocats.
The Early Years Everyday Art School is a vibrant series of participatory workshops where 2–4-year-olds and their families can come together to explore creativity, wellbeing and foundational early years skills. Open only to invited families who have been referred through our partner Afrocats, this project aims to nurture language development, social-emotional growth and confidence.
Facilitated by artists, families engage in sensory-rich activities that celebrate young children as active contributors, supporting learning and wellbeing while helping the gallery to become a more welcoming and accessible space for all.
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Additional information
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The Whitworth x Youth Music – Energiser Fund
The Whitworth has been chosen as one of 11 organisations nationwide to ‘energise’ early years creativity through Youth Music’s, Energiser Fund. Over the next three years, the fund will celebrate and champion creative practice with 2–4 year-olds, centering their voices, views and lived experiences through co-design and participation.
At the Whitworth, we’ll be partnering with our longstanding partners Afrocats, an award-winning charity supporting socially excluded communities across Greater Manchester. Together, over a ten-week period we’ll be working with ten 2-4 year-olds who are facing barriers to traditional early years provision. These barriers may include a lack of awareness about available services, shortage of free places in their area or complex legal or bureaucratic processes.
Through playful interventions and creative sessions led by professional artists in our gallery spaces, we’ll explore the transformative power of art and play on these families’ wellbeing as well as on their development, particularly speech and language in both 2-4 year olds and their non-English speaking caregivers.
By listening to and amplifying the skills, creativity, and voices of these children and their families, we aim to enhance their wellbeing and development, and work towards enabling the gallery to be more accessible to their needs.
As we’re part of The University of Manchester, we integrate research into everything that we do. This project benefits from a collaboration with our colleagues at LuCiD (The ESRC International Centre for Language and Communicative Development), who will provide expert support over the three years. This partnership ensures that our work with families is informed by cutting-edge research, maximizing its impact on young children and their non-English speaking caregiver’s language development.
We believe all children, regardless of age, have the power to influence projects and organisations. No one is too young to be heard.
For updates on how the project is developing, read our Gathering of Strangers blog. Keep an eye out for any interventions in our Everyday Art School on the Mezzanine Level.
Find out who the other ten Energiser Fund organisations are here.
This project has been made possible by the Energiser Fund from Youth Music. With thanks to our supporters and funders: Energiser Fund, Youth Music, Groundswell Art
Image: Afrocats 2024, The Whitworth, The University of Manchester. Photo: Courtesy of Afrocats
