I’m Charlotte, I’m 17 years old and I’ve completed my Bronze and Silver Arts Award and am currently in the midst of my Gold! I did a website for my Bronze, a physical portfolio for my Silver, and I’ve set up a website for my Gold as well. The physical portfolio book took much longer than the websites in general (and I’m a huge perfectionist which made it take even more time) so I’ve decided for my Gold that an easy-to-change website would be easiest for me!

I’ve taken part in a few art forms based around theatre and drama as that’s what I really enjoy. For my Silver, I learnt how to operate sound in a theatre, and for my Gold I’m learning about lighting and how to rig, design and operate it! So far I’m really enjoying the widening of art skills and it’s such a good opportunity to step away from intense schoolwork and future exams and just do something slightly more unusual that I truly love.

For my Bronze, I went to see Mamma Mia in the West End. It was amazing, a very talented cast and the production elements did the original film justice. Following this, I decided to review a concert for my Silver so I went to see Dodie, an artist I hugely admire and wrote about that! She was also my arts inspiration, and although I didn’t get to interview her, I was able to gain a deeper understanding about one way of getting into the music industry (through YouTube).

My school gave us the opportunity to share skills and lead workshops. My favourite memory of Silver Arts Award was the ukulele teaching workshop I ran with one of my friends. It was such a unique experience and one I’ll never forget as it pushed me out of my comfort zone in a way that was somehow terrifying and comforting at the same time.

As I’m in the process of Gold Arts Award, the portfolio isn’t nearly finished. However, I have just published my arts issue on Voice and the response I’ve gotten has been really positive! Again, because I'm going out of my comfort zone, it was really nice to get support for something new to me.

The common theme throughout all the Arts Awards I’ve taken part in is the idea of being taken out of my comfort zone. However, having this done through the arts, it feels as though I can’t do anything that is inherently “wrong” due to different interpretations and understandings, but I’m also not used to the lack of borders and clear answers. It’s given me the opportunity to keep myself surrounded with the arts even though I may not be pursuing these careers in the future.

I didn’t find anything clearly “challenging” and I’ve actually really enjoyed every aspect of the Awards so far! I will say that the planning of the Gold project has been quite stressful up to this point (the date we’re working towards is in March) but we’re holding on okay!

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