Creation, Sun and Shadows - The Forge
The Forge is the Arts in Education Agency for County Durham and Sunderland. A creative organisation that specialises in developing participatory arts projects, working with young people, artists and educators throughout County Durham and Sunderland. Our work in early years settings is an important element of our programme.
The Forge worked alonside Jack Drum Arts and with a range of partners including local Sure Start programmes to set up a small number of arts projects in different settings, within the under 5's service.
A pilot programme called Creation was launched in spring 2002 that was committed to exploring the value of placing artists in a range of under 5's settings and creating new ways of working between all parties involved. This was followed by the development of a further project Sun and Shadows in 2004. We were particularly interested in using modern digital technology in an exciting, meaningful and accessible way with pre-school children. The project also demonstrated a cross-curricular approach capable of intergrating imaginative play with hands-on practical lens-based activities.
