The benefits

The benefits of an Artyface project

Overcomes behavoural and linguistic barriers

The enthusiasm that we generate often results in underachieving pupils excelling and even winning awards for their efforts. Art, a valuable communication tool, can often overcome the obstacles that behavoural and linguistic problems pose.

Creates pride in achievements

Participants learn new skills, processes, enjoy a fun and creative process and can enjoy the fruits of their efforts whenever they see the work in situ. Children are keen to show their parents, teenagers and young adults show their work proudly to their peer group and neighbours.

Empowers the community and commissioning body

People are empowered by being given decisions to make, they can make a positive difference to their environment, they are listened to, their involvement is appreciated and their opinions can influence an outcome.

Teaches respect for public property and raises the community’s sense of responsibility for its environment

As the community is involved in most, if not all, of the processes, from initial ideas, through the drawing, designing and making, even the instillation of the piece, the project is ‘owned’ by the community and therefore the effort that goes into making the environment a pleasant place can be appreciated by those involved: they are protective of their work and they can therefore empathise with the value of other public property and commisions.The involvement of local residents is crucial in ensuring that the art is utilised, enjoyed and not vandalised: no-one likes to see a waste of funds, be it public or private money. We are pleased to say that residents who predict that murals ‘won’t last two days’ have been proved wrong: despite the best effort of vandals artyface work is still telling the time, telling stories and looking good.

Builds good links between people and groups

Instead of a work being designed and delivered with little or no public consultation or involvement, our projects are built around the inclusion and organic involvement of the community. This helps foster good relations between those involved and those commissioning and funding.

Develops team-working skills

People, across ages, races and abilities work together on Artyface projects. Often a design will be a collage of many different drawings made by many different people. The making of the piece will also involve many different people and it is overall a collaborative effort and the results are fantastic, owned by many.

Cost effectiveness

We make murals with the community, creating unique long-lasting legacies and improving the quality of the urban environment. These tactile and site-specific murals, sundials, public seats or paving are hardwearing, weatherproof and very resistant to vandalism. They need little or no maintenance and so offer long-term cost effectiveness.

Community ownership

Community ownership of a high quality artyface piece is our main mission. We have achieved this aim over and over again: to give just one example, the children who live in Caerphilly are proud of the stories depicted by the circular seat in their park and identify their own drawings. The narrative seat is still telling its local legends to families and proving a useful tool in teaching reading to local children.