Leatherhead Decorative & Fine Arts Society, a member of NADFAS

Leatherhead Decorative & Fine Arts Society
Young Arts

Young Arts is a NADFAS initiative, designed to encourage Societies to make a difference to the quality of young peoples' experience of the arts in their local area.

Young Arts

Projects sponsored by LeDFAS include:
- theatre tickets for a local First School to attend a production at the Polka Theatre at Wimbledon
- materials for a Middle School to design and produce a tiled mosaic on an underwater theme for the school hall
- disposable cameras, with processing, for a class of 6 year olds, to support their National Curriculum studies.

In September 2001, as part of the Mole Valley Civic Trust Heritage Open Weekend, LeDFAS sponsored and organised an art competition for local children on the theme of My Corner of Mole Valley.

Judges from the Leatherhead Art Club carefully considered the many entries, and Leslie Shelton the Chairman said, "it was difficult to choose the winners; the children are to be congratulated on the high standard of their art".

Prizes were awarded in each age group and presented at the Letherhead Institute during Heritage Weekend by the Chairman of Mole Valley District Council, Mr Maurice Homewood.

LeDFAS members were rewarded by the obvious enjoyment and sense of achievement of the children ... and some very proud parents.

For the year 2002/3, our Society’s contribution to Young Arts went to Oakfield Junior School in Fetcham. Oakfield caters for children aged from seven to eleven years. Each year group (about 50-60 children) went on a different day to the National Gallery which has an excellent programme and organisation for school groups.

At the Gallery the children were divided into groups to visit selected pictures in different rooms chosen to relate to topics which they were studying as part of the national curriculum. These included Tudor and Stuart kings and queens, the weather and also some classical subjects and landscapes. The Gallery staff encouraged the children to make their own observations on the pictures and they responded enthusiastically. On their return the children followed this up in class. Some impressive collage work was produced using costume ideas from the pictures which they had seen.

For most of the children this was their first experience of a major art gallery and they really made the most of it.

The Society’s 2004 contribution was to Therfield School, Leatherhead. They used to help with the cost of scenery for their whole-school production of “Sweeney Todd”. The ambitious show involved skills and talents in art, music and drama and it was very rewarding to help make it happen.

In 2005 the Society chose to support Woodlands School, Leatherhead which caters for young people between the ages of 2 and 19 who have a variety of severe or profound disabilities and learning difficulties, some with multiple problems. Such pupils require a very high staff to pupil ratio and expensive equipment to support their learning needs. Each year the School runs an Art Week when the children are engaged in art, music and drama. They like to bring in outside specialists and our Society’s donation paid for a visiting artist who worked with the children during the week, bringing in new ideas and interest. The pupils were so industrious and enthusiastic and their pleasure was infectious.