Arts Award Toolkit
Introducing... The BOX
Did you know you can gain an Arts Award by taking part in 99 by 19? This toolkit outlines how you can prepare for an Arts Award at the Discover or Bronze level by creating the BOX.
Arts Award is a certified award which inspires young people to explore lots of different ways of making, sharing and thinking about art and creativity. There are no rules on the type of artwork you produce but you will need to collect evidence of your ideas so that your work can be assessed by an Arts Award advisor.
The BOX
The BOX will be used to record, collect and represent the 99 by 19 challenges you choose to achieve your Arts Award. The first challenge is to create your box! The size, shape and content is up to you! It could be a shoebox, a box you’ve made from old packaging, a small jewellery box or a plastic Tupperware-type box. You can add some personality to the box through pictures, words, textures, colours and anything you can think of, and make it totally unique. Think of this as your studio or sketchbook.
First Steps
Choose which arts award level is right for you. Discover is a beginner level, Bronze if you feel you have a bit more confidence and experience. You can always start with Discover and do Bronze later! Think about how and where you can carry out your Arts Award, can you do this with help from school, a gallery, an arts centre like a gallery or museum, or a youth group? You will also need someone to assess your Arts Award, which means someone needs to check what you have done so you can get your certificate. You will need an adult to help to arrange this, there is more information under the Help and Assessment section at the bottom of this page.
How you get your Arts Award
Achieving your Arts Award is all about taking part in creative activities and evidencing what these were and what you have learnt. The criteria for the two awards are as follows;
Discover
There are 4 things you need to do!
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Participate in at least one 99 by 19 activity, evidenced through written or recorded diaries, comments and photographs. These can all be stored in your BOX, as well as anything you might make by doing the activity.
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Through your activity, create items that involve two different art forms, eg a sculpture, a painting, photography, drawing, dance or performance.
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Learn about an artist and their work and document your findings in your book! Think of creative ways to do this. You can achieve another 99 by 19 items by doing this; ‘Learn about someone that inspires you’. The artist might link to one of the art forms you have chosen to create.
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Tell people about what you have done! Share your enjoyment and learning with others and use your BOX to document how you did this.
Bronze
There are 11 things you need to do – we said it was a little harder! Embrace the challenge!
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Select a 99 by 19 activity that allows you to produce an arts activity. Write a description of your arts activity and store it in your BOX.
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Evidence how you participated in your activity through written or recorded diaries, comments and photographs. These can all be stored in your BOX, as well as anything you might make by doing the activity.
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Write a summary of what you learnt and how your interests, knowledge and skills have developed by taking part in your 99 by 19 activity.
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Attend an arts event! Not only does this contribute to your Arts Award but allows you to tick off another item on the list, such as ‘Visit a gallery or museum’ or ‘Go to a festival’. Provide evidence for what you have done, this could be a programme, postcard, or DVD or the event. Store it in your BOX!
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Write about the arts event you attended, providing a personal reflection and its creative impact.
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Share your personal reflection with someone! It’s good to tell people what you think. Provide evidence of how you have shared this, such as a recording or a testimony by the person you have shared with.
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Learn about an artist, craftsperson or practitioner and their work and document your findings in your book! Describe why you appreciate this artist. Think of creative ways to do this. You can achieve another 99 by 19 items by doing this; ‘Learn about someone that inspires you’
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Provide a summary of why the person was chosen and what you learnt about that person’s arts practice, career, life and work in any creative format that others can understand.
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Share your 99 by 19 activity! You need to communicate what you chose to do with other people. Evidence how you are going to explain the activity you have done, including why you chose it. What technique will you use? You could give a talk, host a discussion with friends or family or create a video to describe it and upload it to YouTube.
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Provide evidence of your sharing activity and demonstrate how you were able to pass on the skills you have learnt to others. You get to tick off another 99 by 19 item by doing this! Teach someone a new skill
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Reflect on how well you felt you passed on your art skills to others. Did you enjoy it or learn something new?
Examples
Here are a couple of examples of how you might use 99 by 19 to achieve your Arts Award – remember this is just a guide and you can do your own thing!
Discover
99 by 19 item: Go vegan for a week
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Learn about vegan food, be creative and explore the vegan dishes on BBC Good Food. Try writing out a weekly menu to store in your BOX. Try a fruit or vegetable you have never eaten before! Add photographs or drawing of you making the food, or an abstract drawing of what certain ingredients or meals taste like.
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Photograph the meal you have made, or perhaps sculpturally recreate it! Could you paint or draw it? Could you go a step further and create art from food? Can you serve up mashed potato portraits? Can you decorate a vegan cake to make it look like something else?
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Research your favourite chef and see if they have shared vegan recipes. Can you learn about an artist that works with food?
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Show and share your research to a friend or family member. Can you enjoy a meal you have made together? Summarise your cooking experience! If you re-made it, would you alter the recipe? Would you give your own recipe a new name?
Evidence for the BOX
You could add recipes to your box, visit the library and photocopy pages of cookbooks and make collages, create a recipe zine, or write a review of your own cooking! Any photographs of what you have made can also go in here.
Bronze
99 by 19 item: Join a beach clean up
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Describe what you’re going to do!
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Take your own litter home when leaving the beach and recycle it into something else! An artwork, a wall hanging, a garden ornament.
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Through drawings and photographs, comment on your activity - what did you find? Where did you find it? Take a picture before and after your beach clean.
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Volunteer in a beach clean with one of many organisations including Southend Beach Care or Harp. Chat to the other volunteers - why do they do beach cleans? Can you write a short interview or article about them? Also, why not go to an exhibition or watch a film that deals with environmental issues.
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What did you see? An exhibition? A film? A website? An environmental event? Write about the experience, or film yourself talking about it.
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Show some photographs of the event or write a short article on it.
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Search online for artists who make pieces of artwork with rubbish or found objects. Can you find drawings of rubbish or Sculptures made with broken things?
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What did you find out? What do the artists use to make their work? Can you make a poster or a presentation based on what you saw?
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Plan your sharing – who will you show your artwork and your photos to? Who will you explain beach cleaning to? Can you convince a friend or family member to join you? Make it a competition! Who can collect the most pieces of litter in 30 minutes?
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Share the notes from your presentation to your friends and family. Share a drawing of you beach cleaning together.
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How was it? Did they enjoy it or learn something new?
Evidence for the BOX
Take a photo before and after your beach clean and add these to the BOX. Draw a piece of litter in a beautiful way, before you throw it in the bin or take it home. Write a poem about the beach, reminding others to take their rubbish home. Document the litter you collect - can you collect 50 pieces? What were they? Add any lists, drawings, photos to your BOX.
Help and Assessment
Arts Award advisers, acting as assessors, facilitators and mentors can help you through your Arts Award journey. Anyone working with children and young people in the UK can deliver Arts Award including teachers, teaching assistants, museum learning staff, arts practitioners and youth workers. You don’t need to be an arts specialist.
Your school might be able to help guide you through your Arts Award. Alternatively, there are two Arts Award Centres in Southend that can provide you with support; Focal Point Gallery and Music Mentoring.
To become an adviser you need to book onto a training course. Find out more about the steps involved in delivering Arts Award.
This toolkit has been created by six Southend based Arts Award Advisors, Sharon Byrne, Sally Chinea, Laurence Harding, Hayley Hill, Paige Ockenden and Damien Robinson.