Making Our Mark / Gwneud ein Marc

Watch the Making our Mark film here.

Making our Mark is an outcome of the 'Criw Celf Christmas Party', a day-long collaborative workshop that took place on 17 December 2016 at Oriel Davies. The artists are a group of young people who come together as 'Criw Celf'* (Art Crew). For the event, the group were placed in three random groups and were set a two-part challenge - the first part was to devise and create their own 'art tools' - for this they were provided with a range of 'low-tech' resources such as bamboo sticks, cardboard, nails, fabric, paint roller handles, wire, string, tape and more. The second part was to develop mark-making methods and designs or drawings with their art tools. They were provided with plain wallpaper and flooring lino on which to work, and it was explained that the resulting artworks would be exhibited here in the TestBed space. They were also aware that the art tools were to be exhibited.

The Christmas Party is the only event in the Criw Celf calendar where the young people involved are completely free to lead their own creativity. The aim is to encourage collaboration, inventiveness, risk-taking and creativity, with other desirable outcomes being that working collaboratively will lead to new friendships, increased confidence and happiness and unexpected creative results.

Criw Celf is a project for young people aged between 12 and 18 from North Powys who have been identified as being able and talented in the visual arts. It is part of a national initiative to nurture young talent in Wales. The participants come together around 7 times a year to work with professional artists, to visit exhibitions, university fine art departments and artists' studios. Criw Celf is funded by the Arts Council of Wales and supported by Powys County Council.

For further information please ask at the reception desk or contact desk@orieldavies.org.

Artworks by Criw Celf can also be seen in The Drawing Room at Oriel Davies until 25th February. The works consist of tin sculptures made at masterclasses in November 2016 with automata artist Andy Hazell.

Supporting new and experimental work by artists based in Wales and the Borders.