Litter-Arty, Community Art Project.

During 2002 concerns were raised about the litter in Shepshed. Following consultation with the cleansing department of Charnwood Borough Council and further consultations with the local community groups a project was devised to publicize the issues raised and tackle them creatively.

An idea was born to hold a litter clean up event involving the local community and after the collection some artwork would be created with the help of qualified artist/designer recommended by Charnwood Arts.

The clean up event was held throughout the week of 7th-11th July 03. Four local schools took part, St.Botlophs, St.Winefrides, Newcroft and Shepshed High School. The cleansing officer from Charnwood Borough Council started each event with a safety talk i.e Safety, protcetive clothing and dangerous substances.

The art workshop took place the first week of the schools summer holiday at Hind Leys Youth Centre.
The group sorted the litter, deciding what to use and disgarding of the waste. A group discussion was entered into and the children chose to design and make a recycling centre - each panel would have a different theme, city scape, flowers etc.

Handbags, creatures and flowers were also made during the week.

The children had a chance to learn how to use a digital camera, each day was recorded photographically by the participants and the artists.

The LitterArty exhibition took place in September 2003 at Loughborough University School of Art and Design.

LitterArty encouraged young people to actively paricipate in the arts; utilize the skills of professional artists, to work with non-professionals and involved more than one art form.

One of the main outcomes was to work to create improvements in the built environment and community participation in Shepshed. This was achieved by more than 100 students from the schools in Shepsehed pulling together to spend a week cleaning up their immediate vicinity. The young people found all aspects of the project most enjoyable and they were proud of the work they created.