Visit Watermans Gallery to see the Summer's output on show

THIS SUMMER Watermans was turned into one giant game for young people, with the first ever Creative Summer School being held at the venue over four weeks during the summer holidays.

Every week there was a range of arts activities run by some of the most fun people in the business.  The project attracted over 200 young people who participated in a choice of over a dozen creative arts activities.

by Beatriz Garcia Rey

There was music and theatre on the stage, urban art graffiti in the car-park, and recycled sculptures on the terrace. Young people made films, learnt to perform aerial dance; Parkour and Street Dance and created a virtual world of their own.

The output of the young people has been simply stunning. These workshops had high attendances and every Friday evening audiences of supporters and families were treated to a showcase of work created by the young people during the week. The audience shared in a barbeque on the patio, and promenaded around the venue enjoying the talents of young performers in the theatre, performing sketches on themes of regeneration in Brentford;  social media; watching documentary films and showcasing their digital media  skills in the gallery. The recycled sculpture is showcased in the exhibition, and Usain Bolt would be very happy with his likeness created through newspaper while the sea monster is very friendly, and the graffiti art will adorn the car park.

This exhibition is both a record and celebration of what was created and recognition of the huge and diverse creative talents of the young people who took part. Watermans is immensely proud of the creative output that is on show here. In most instances participants were exploring these different art forms for the first time and it is really remarkable what they achieved in such a short time.

This was the first of what we hope will be many URBAN AMBUSH creative arts summer school and was only possible through partnership with London Borough of Hounslow Youth Service and additional financial support from Heathrow Communities Trust and Glaxo Smith Kline Ltd. We would also like to thank London Borough of Ealing, Heidelberg, DunnHumby, our suppliers and all of our customers who helped to make URBAN AMBUSH possible.

October 2, 2013