DAD provides opportunities for young people to get involved in creative activity through a range of different projects, enabling them to develop their creative and critical-thinking skills and ability to innovate. Engagement in the arts is known to boost engagement in core curriculum subjects  while an opportunity to take part in an arts activity can provide time for contemplation, dreaming, concentration and experimentation and can relieve the pressure of having to get things “right”.

• I learned today that there is not a right or wrong rule with art. I enjoyed reading my poem out and helping to read out other people’s poems.

The arts can give young people a feeling of success…

• I liked to draw the biggest ghost ship, and felt really pleased when everyone clapped at my work.
• The teachers at Portal House felt it really helped the boys with confidence as they usually feel that they’re rubbish at everything. Being creative allowed the boys to feel they were good at something

and can help with teamwork:

• The children are now working on their compositions in small groups. We have rhythm, silences and fantastic team work

and provide them with opportunities to make choices:

• We do lots of poetry at school but we don’t always get to choose what to write about or make shape poems.

I believe that an excellent art education is an entitlement for all young people. It provides an opportunity for young people to imagine and encourages them to explore ideas, to be inquisitive, to problem solve, to be persistent and also to collaborate with others, shaping creative individuals who can think independently and can contribute positively to society. It encourages a sense of well being and helps young people develop an understanding of the world in which we all live and a tolerance towards others. (Petra Matthews-Crow, former Head of Arts at Astor College for the Arts, Dover)

DAD is an Arts Award supporter and many of our projects have enabled children and young people to obtain their Arts Award certificates. Arts award is a range of unique qualifications that supports anyone aged up to 25 to grow as artists and arts leaders, inspiring them to connect with and take part in the wider arts world through taking challenges in an art form. There are 5 Arts Award levels.

Find out more about the Impact of Arts Award on young people

Our list of contributors is a great place to start discovering the artists who have worked with us.

Please get in touch if you would like to meet an artist or take part in an arts activity and we will do what we can to help.