Member Article

ARTventurers joins the Sunderland Family Arts Network

The newest member of the Sunderland Family Arts Network, ARTventurers, has been holding an exciting range of Easter activities across the city – proving that Sunderland’s vibrant creative scene has plenty to offer when it comes to providing families with a range of arts activities.

From Easter themed cupcake decorating to Easter egg hunts, ARTventurers’ programme of activities attracted large crowds of families who took part in a wide range of hands-on, Easter-themed arts and crafts. Since being established in 2013, The Sunderland Family Arts Network has worked hard to encourage families to take part in creative endeavours in and around the city, helping to bring together local communities whilst exposing them to the arts.

The Sunderland Family Arts Network’s co-ordinator, Kathryn Tye of Creative Cohesion, said: “This was a fantastic opportunity for families to share in the arts and create something special together during the Easter holidays. It is great to have ARTventurers on board and to see them embracing the spirit of the network.

“The Sunderland Family Arts Network focuses on promoting the arts in Sunderland. We want to make the city’s creative organisations accessible to people of all ages and show them how many exciting activities are going on in the city.”

The network of creative organisations has continued to grow and is always keen to attract new members as they work towards developing Sunderland as a hub of creative activity. Fiona Simpson, of ARTventurers said: “It’s always such a pleasure to see children being so active and getting excited about the arts. Everybody leaves the sessions with a big smile on their faces and something colourful that they have made.

“There is a great community of families around Sunderland and we hope that parents, as well as their children, can meet new friends and see a friendly face when they join us. We believe that developing children’s social skills at a young age is really important and our sessions give them the opportunity to interact and engage with other children.”

Families from across the city attended the activities throughout the Easter break, giving them the chance to meet other families whilst getting involved with lots of Easter themed fun.

Claire Fairless, a parent from Hasting Hill, said: “We’ve really enjoyed taking part in the activities. I think that these events are really important because they give families the chance to meet other children and parents. At the same time it gives me the opportunity to find out what else is going on in the area.

“My kids love being creative and making lots of mess! I’d definitely recommend it - we’ve have had so much fun.”

Other organisations involved in the Sunderland Family Arts Network’s Easter programme included Creative Cohesion. Their ‘Blow an Easter Egg’ session once again attracted lots of families who were keen to take part in a more unusual arts activity.

As the network continues to evolve, it is hoped that the city will continue to embrace family friendly arts activities whilst being exposed to the wealth of creative organisations and the opportunities they bring.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Marie Donnelly .