How do I Achieve a Discover Arts Award?

What do I do to get an Arts Award?

  • take part in different arts activities
  • be inspired by artists and arts organisations
  • experience arts events
  • share your arts skills with others
  • put together a portfolio or arts log in your own choice of format

How long does it take?

You can complete Arts Award Discover in one day or take longer doing a bit at a time. If your child or children are especially interested in one part, you can add more pages.

Why not have a go at the art activities yourself and add pages to your child’s logbook.

What resources do we need?

You just need:

  • Paper
  • Drawing materials like pens, pencils and crayons

Download a copy of our Discover Arts Award logbook and either complete it on screen, print a copy, or make your own folder, using the same headings. The page headings are important if you want a certificate at the end.

Other materials you could find useful include:

  • Scissors, glue, junk modelling stuff like packaging, old magazines for collage
  • Paint, pastels, charcoal sticks, chalk
  • Dressing up things for acting or performing
  • Instruments, real or home-made
  • A camera/phone for taking pictures of children’s artwork or performance

How do we get started?

Download the logbook. Look through the logbook with your child so you both have a good idea of what is involved in each part before you start.

Part Ai. Discover the arts all around you

There is art all around us! But we don’t always notice it! It’s in stories and books, TV and films, and dances, drawings, photographs, paintings, pottery, computer graphics, and more! And it can be made by family and friends or professionals. Look all around you and at the creative things you can see.

Why not make an Art Spotters Wheel to record different art forms you find. (find downloadable instructions with the logbook)

ArtUK holds many of Maidstone Museums artworks – why not explore our collection as well as other places collections.

Part Aii. Take part in Art

Have a go at 2 different kinds of art. Be inspired by what you can see around you, or look at the Museums collection on the website or on ArtUK and make your own versions. It could be a model, a dance, a poem, a story with pictures, a song – the choice is yours! Watching a film or play, listening to music or reading a book can all count. Focus on the creative impact of what you have seen or heard. It might be useful to think about how different it might have been if you had seen/heard something live rather than as a recording. What do you think the atmosphere is like when at a concert or the theatre, the difference in effects, smells, lighting etc.

Part B; Find out about an artist and their work

Finding out about amazing local artists and art works in your area is a great place to start. As well as this you can look on the internet, in magazines and even on TV programmes. An Artist doesn’t just mean a painter or illustrator. Remember all the art forms above – an artist could be an actor or a pop star or an animator.

Help your child think about what inspired the artists and talk about their work – the materials or techniques they used, what it’s communicating and what it makes children think or feel. If they love a particular style, encourage them to see if they can create a painting, illustration or song using the same approach.

Part C; Share your discoveries and your art work

To complete their Arts Award children need to share what they’ve done and what they’ve learned. It doesn’t matter how they share, or with whom, as long as they record by writing, drawing or with photos in their logbooks, or even by making a video of them sharing.

What do we do when we have finished?

Hopefully, you and your children have enjoyed completing the Discover Arts Award. Once complete, think about applying for your official certificate from Trinity College, London. These cost £7.50 per certificate.  To apply for this you will need to send a digital copy of your Discover Arts Award logbook, with the child’s full name and date of birth to museumeducation@maidstone.gov.uk We then check all sections have been completed and will let you know if you’ve achieved the award.

If you’d prefer to drop in a physical copy of your log book, please arrange this by contacting us on the email above.

We will be sending off for certificates on the below key dates and then they take 6-8 weeks to come back to us. We will then contact you again to arrange collection.

To pay for your certificate and moderation please go to;

Dates for Discover Arts Award submission;

March 1

May 1

Sept 1

Dec 1

 

Schools Submissions

Schools are welcome to complete self led Arts Awards using the Museum as inspiration. Log books can be downloaded and printed in school.  Please contact us to arrange to drop off log books for moderation. Costs are £7.50 per child. This will be invoiced. Please ensure children name and year group are clear on the cover of the log books when dropped in for moderation. (discount available for 60+ children)

If you have any further questions feel free to contact Roz at museumeducation@maidstone.gov.uk