VAE was established in May 2019, this has been a childhood dream for the founder who is extremely passionate about teaching arts and crafts to children, young people and adults.
Throughout the last 16 years Nazneen has worked in numerous settings within four local authorities in various roles with a range of audiences. Nazneen has always been passionate about art and social emotional wellbeing within the community. Nazneen is an Arts Award Practitioner and Behaviour Mentor Nazneen currently delivers therapeutic art sessions to adults with complex needs, Autism and learning disabilities. Each programme has a bespoke package to support their needs and abilities. Nazneen’s other projects involve teaching children art/nurture interventions at North Cheshire Jewish Primary School, Oakgrove Primary School and St Joseph’s Primary school. The Art projects are based on specific themes directed by the head teacher and the senior leadership teams.
VAE mission is to support and apply different elements of the National curriculum into a creative curriculum using a variety of transferable art skill for people to put into practice.
Creativity is also well recognised for its potential to heal people, express hidden emotions, reduce stress, fear and anxiety, and promote a sense of autonomy. Engaging children, young people and adults in the arts can inspire and motivate, opening new possibilities for creative expression and imagination.
Art can stimulate a young person’s ability to question and connect with the world around them, and nurture positive aspirations, confidence and the capacity for autonomous critical thought. It can also help young people to develop the resilience to manage challenging life circumstances. Arts projects in schools can be used to raise awareness of mental health issues and challenge stigmatising attitudes. Arts experiences challenge young people’s sense of themselves in a vastly different way to formal education, providing different opportunities for young people to explore their identity, skills and abilities.
The feedback I have received has given me insight into the relationships forged between artists and participants which is fundamentally different to those experienced with other adults in schools, a point reinforced by participants.
There may also be greater emphasis on process than on the outcomes or products required of more traditional approaches. Young people report a sense of enjoyment and achievement in creating art,which demonstrates significant levels of motivation, improved self-esteem, self-awareness,resilience and community engagement. Many evaluations of arts interventions document their effectiveness in re-engaging young people in education and developing skills that are transferable and as relevant to working on other subject areas.