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The Sounds & Shades
Sounds and Shades, supported by Arts Council England and the Leicestershire & Rutland Police and Crime Commissioner Fund, brought free graffiti, beatboxing, DJing and music-making workshops to young people in the Mowmacre area. Throughout the project, 47 young people took part in hands-on creative sessions—many experiencing arts activities for the very first time.
The project created a safe, inspiring space for local children and young people to explore new skills, express themselves, and connect through art.
“It was fun ’cause you let us try stuff ourselves. I don’t get to do things like this anywhere else.”
“I liked the artists ’cause they talked to us normal.”
“The DJ bit was my favourite. I didn’t know you could make beats like that.”
“I usually don’t get things finished, but in the music workshop the time went so fast I didn’t even realise I’d made a whole song already.”
To bring high-quality professional art directly into the heart of the community, we hosted Closer to My Dreams, a powerful Hip Hop dance and spoken word performance by Chad Taylor, at the Tudor Centre.
Across the day, 64 local audience members experienced the show—many seeing live performance for the very first time. The piece resonated strongly with young people, exploring themes of ambition, resilience, friendship and the challenges of growing up in urban environments.
“I never seen dancing like that. It felt like they were talking about real life.”
“I didn’t know dance could tell a story. I liked the brothers trying to be something.”
“It made me think......do things, even if things are hard.
The beats were cold.”
“I liked how they moved around us. It felt real, like I was in and need to do somethinglike helping or something.”
“I would watch it again. I didn’t understand all the words, but I kind off got it.”
A key milestone in the project was supporting young creatives to gain an Arts Award.
We’re proud that 20 young people completed their Arts Award Explore qualification, recognising their creativity, commitment and artistic development.
For many, this was their first-ever certificate—an achievement celebrated by families, artists and the whole project team.
“I didn’t think I could get something like a certificate. I showed my nan and she was buzzing.”
“I didn’t think I could get something like a certificate. I showed my nan and she was buzzing.”
“I never got an award before.”
“I learned new things about art and didn’t know it counted. Now I know art can be music and graffiti and all that.”
“I liked doing the spray painting ’cause I never done it before. It made me feel like I can make something sick,
not just mess about.”
