HEDZ Creative Open Day Success!

As you may have read in This article on The Birmingham Press website, Furore PR recently organised an educational creative arts workshop day hosted by the fabulous creative arts and design organisation, Hedz.



Held on Monday 21st March, at Zellig; Birmingham’s newest creative hub for arts and culture, the event brought together schools and children from across the Midlands to participate in a range of engaging workshops teaching creative drawing, aerosol art, oil painting and DJing (hosted by three times world champion, DJ Switch!)     



Aerosol Art workshop with Hedz' Stuart Styles and tutor Stephen White

 Over the past ten years, Hedz have become leaders of youth engagement workshops for art and creation in education across Central England. They work with schools and colleges, helping to educate young people through the creative outlets of art and music. Not only have Hedz founders created a diverse range of inspirational workshops that engage young people in artistic development, but they also illustrate the importance of community values and team-work, through fun creative activities.

The creative open day event featured tutorials from Hedz founders Miles Hesketh and Stuart Styles, alongside fellow aerosol artist Stephen White and inspiring demonstrations from the regions most creative individuals, including Popbang Colour artist, Ian Cook. Ian has become famous for the artwork recently shown on ITV’s Daybreak which is done using a remote control car ran across the canvases- a novel method that produces amazing results!



Popbang- Ian with some of his unique work

Ian Cook from Popbang colour explaining his unique artistic methods

Voiceover artist Marc Silk, who you'd recognise as the voice of Scooby Doo, Johnny Bravo and US Bob the Builder also taught the children how to do authentic Scooby Doo sounds!  You can't say the day wasn't varied!
 
The workshops held at the creative open day weren't just about having fun- they encouraged children to work together, expand on their social and teamwork skills, whilst giving them the opportunity to gain new abilities in areas that they would not necessarily be exposed to in a traditional classroom setting.
 
 

 
The event received local support from Costco who provided food for the school children and staff that attended, including an amazing feed-the-five-thousand iced sponge cake- a Furore PR fave! Also a massive thanks to the Custard Factory's Zellig who provided the perfect creative space for the workshops to take place.
 
Specialist Crafts, the UK’s biggest supplier to education, sponsored the event providing all the art supplies used on the day, so the children had a huge range of canvases, paper, pencils and art supplies to get creative with, and also a massive shout out to photographer Jack Gibbs is in order for all his fantastic images.

The creative day also allowed schools to gain access to industry professionals who understand the benefits of working with young people to improve their prospects within education and employment.
When asked about their thoughts on the event, Miles and Stuart, the Hedz maestros said “We were very excited to be able to extend our current service, thus engaging various groups of young people who may not have previously interacted, and uniting them in a common creative cause.”

You can find Hedz on Facebook, Twitter (Hedz_Art_Music) or sign up to their newsletter via the Hedz website: http://www.hedz.ltd.uk/

Hedz Ltd- More than your Average..

Hedz Ltd is a creative arts and design organisation with a difference. They thrive on stimulating creativity through tuition and workshops but using cool art forms like graffiti, breakdancing, DJing and clothing customisation.

Aerosol art has not always been considered a legitimate art form, but with prominent graffiti artists like Banksy storming the nation the times are a-changing! Birmingham’s street art scene is fizzing with talent, from the award-winning spiritual aerosol artist, Mohammed Ali (a.k.a Aerosolarabic) to those battling at Secret Wars and the work showcased in shops like Kings Heath’s ‘In A City Arts’ and the Custard Factory’s ‘Bench 504’ . You only need to have a wander round Digbeth’s Eastside to see that the street-art scene is quietly booming. Aerosol art has gained a huge following but it has become much more than street graffiti, and is being used in novel new ways to benefit communities.

Miles Hesketh has turned his passion for street-art into a successful career, co-founding Hedz Ltd alongside Stuart Styles in 2003 while still a Birmingham University student. Then the focus was on event management and promotion; they launched Birmingham's award-winning and legendary hip-hop music night, 'Heducation' at rave-worthy venues including the Custard factory, the Rainbow and the HMV Institute.

In the ten years since its birth, Hedz has grown into a creative arts and design organisation with its finger in many creative pies. They run youth engagement workshops on everything from aerosol art to breakdancing, DJ-ing and clothing customisation; encouraging children to tap into their creativity in cool ways that appeal to the street-savvy kids of today. Their projects have included collaborative murals, transforming vandalised bus shelters and even skate ramps.
 

 

 

Their ethos is that learning doesn’t have to be academic, and Hedz are one of a number of organisations working with schools to promote creativity and change people’s perceptions of aerosol art. However, Hedz are also a successful commercial venture, as they often produce commissioned artwork and marketing material for local and national brands that need a little extra pizzazz. From the Custard Factory’s weekly Flea Market mural to a customised charity pair of jeans for the Bull Ring Bull in Birmingham, they’ve also worked with multi-national companies; creating bespoke artwork for Virgin’s first-class lounges, designing murals for the set of a Walkers Crisps advertisement and even customising clothing for Britain’s Got Talent!

Miles has a varied creative background; from graphic design to DJ-ing to teaching music and art. His advice for others looking to start a business from something they love? “If you’re passionate about something, you can turn it into a fulfilling career. Just believe in what you do, seek good advice, research the market, your competitors and where there are gaps. A dream is only a dream if you don’t have a plan."
For further information visit http://www.hedz.ltd.uk/, or find them on Facebook or Twitter!