An art exhibition created by young people aged 11 to 17 based around the theme of heroes and villains.

This annual art exhibition at DCAS addresses issues and trends within society, in 2016 it was very fitting that the young people chose the theme of heroes and villains. There seems to be lots of superhero and villain themed films and references around at that time and their choice reflected this.

It started as a group discussing ideas and topics and once the theme was democratically chosen they had to create a name. ‘The Good the Bad & the Arty’ was by far the most popular choice amongst the young people and summed up the chosen theme well. From here ideas were generated and discussed and various art forms were explored to enable students to decide on their pieces. The discussion about everyday heroes and villains came up a lot – staff encouraged the young people to think about the world around them and how it fitted into the theme.

There are many heroes and villains within our modern society and the young people set out to illustrate this within their art work. The subjects discussed and covered include world issues, war, politics, friends, family, fears and emotions. There are many everyday heroes within the exhibition and some young people illustrate who they value within their lives. Some of the creative work is a little controversial as the students wanted to make people think – I think they achieved their goal.

Everyone worked incredibly hard over 13 weeks developing ideas and concepts, creating inspiring and thought provoking art work and bringing this amazing exhibition to life. I am very proud of all the students who have contributed and they should be very proud of themselves.