Supported by Essex County Council's Arts and Cultural Fund & Arts Council England

THE SCHOOL OF HOPE IN MALDON

A SOCIALLY ENGAGED ARTS PROJECT FOR YOUNG CREATIVES BASED IN ESSEX

The School of Hope Maldon Arts Trail – now LIVE

If you’re in Maldon, you can pick up a paper map at any stop which features on the trail, as well as all of the High Street charity shops, WH Smith, Maldon Coffee Company, Maldon Library, All Saint’s Church and Maldon Visitors Centre.

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Or, you can download your own digital version of the Maldon Arts Trail Map by clicking here.

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All you need is a phone/ tablet with a QR code scanner, a connection to the internet (4G), and some headphones.

We are thrilled to be funded by the Essex County Council Art and Cultural Fund to run The School of Hope in Maldon, Essex. The Essex County Council Arts and Cultural fund has been designed to help organisations and practitioners to deliver a broad and exciting range of work and activity to engage with and bring residents together.

What is The School of Hope?

The School of Hope (TSoH) is a project for young creatives to explore empathy through art. TSoH consists for five workshops, each of which center around a bespoke artwork The Paper Birds have made or commissioned which explores empathy. Young creatives watch the artwork each day, discuss and take part in exercises to explore it further, and create their own artwork in response. The project is an invitation to young creatives to explore, experiment, and connect with others. The young creatives taking part draw inspiration from the artworks, as well as undertake tasks, discussions, and workshop activities, before creating their own art in response to an artistic brief from each workshop.

In 2021 the first cohort off The School of Hope, made up of around 75 young creatives from 9 partner organisations from 5 countries across 3 continents took part in workshops and Zoom masterclasses, leading to hundreds of conversations and artworks around the theme of empathy. Watch The School of Hope Documentary to learn more about TSoH.

The School of Hope in Maldon

We were thrilled to receive funding from the Essex County Council Arts & Cultural Fund to run The School of Hope again, this time in our home of Maldon, Essex. We worked with a brilliant group of Essex-based young people across five days. Hosted by Plume Academy, we worked with the group to create a host of artworks which all explore empathy from their own unique perspectives.

To celebrate their artworks, we then curated The School of Hope Maldon Arts Trail – a local exhibition and audio guide spanning from the top of Maldon High Street into Promenade Park. The Arts Trail stops at shops and heritage sites along the way, for you to enjoy the artworks created as part of The School of Hope, as well as listen to the young creatives talk about their experience.

We’re excited to bring new faces and local residents to Maldon to experience The School of Hope Arts Trail, and celebrate the local creativity of Essex young people! Follow us on social media @ThePaperBirds to get the latest updates on The School of Hope in Maldon.