My first three months as a POW Young Producer by Sophia West

POW Thanet are excited to partner with Broadstairs College on our flagship young people programme - Young Producers. This involves mentoring three Broadstairs media students - Sophia West, Courtney Oatridge and Liberty Danes over six months.  The mentees will be supported to create, curate, promote and execute the POW Youth Art Trail which will be displayed in shop windows through Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, plus help their peers to put on a public art exhibition, music gig and drama performance. Here’s Sophia’s thoughts on how they’re getting on so far: 

November 2022: POW Behind the Lines 

I'm Sophia and I am one of this year's Young Producers mentees with POW, alongside my friends and classmates, Courtney and Liberty. Last year's theme was 'Reclaim and Reconnect' and, as part of a college project, I produced a short film for a POW exhibition, alongside my classmates. This year I am on the other side and the theme for POW 2023 is 'Joy and Celebration'.

So much work goes into making each of these festivals engaging, and the work starts now. Before the New Year, it is up to this year's mentees to do three things; organise a presentation for Broadstairs college students to get them involved, create the callout for the Youth Art Trail this year, and discuss with shopkeepers across Thanet about their willingness to host the art pieces. The New Year promises new tasks and challenges and we look forward to it. 

But for now, with three tasks and three mentees, each of us are overcoming our own fears and stepping out of our comfort zones to make all of these things happen. Is it challenging addressing a group of your peers? Yes. Is it daunting being responsible for a public callout poster? Definitely. Can it be terrifying attempting to convince strangers and business people to take part in a festival? Of course. But with the help and support of all the people at POW, we are ready to rise to the challenge.

So far, Liberty and Courtney have set about their tasks with enthusiasm and determination; and very soon, Liberty’s hard-crafted posters and social media posts will go live, announcing the opening call for 2023’s Youth Art Trail. Courtney is making leaps and bounds in leadership putting together a cohesive and engaging presentation for December, and I am preparing myself for the meetings with shopkeepers set to start next month. 

It is all starting to kick off at POW! Hold onto your hats. 

The mission at POW is ‘celebrating creativity that champions gender equality across Thanet’. Art changes the world, it shows us what we could be, what we could have, it is a glimpse into a future that is brighter than our present. By inviting young people to this festival and experience, POW is giving young people of Thanet the ability to envision the world they wish to see in the future, and I believe that is definitely worth celebrating.

January 2023 - Happy New Year

The New Year has come and gone, and the ball is rolling and picking up momentum; submissions for the Youth Art Trail have been coming in and the Drama, Art, Music and Media students at Broadstairs College are gearing up for their exhibitions and performances.

Courtney’s December presentations were a resounding success – and we are all immensely proud of her for overcoming her anxieties and leading such engaging and informative presentations. We are all so proud of Courtney for her achievements, and even one of the lecturers was ‘so impressed by the efforts of the mentees’ and agreed that ‘our students got a lot out of the session'. Music, media, art, and theatre students are now getting involved, taking part in workshops and preparing for the Festival in March. 

Earlier this month, music students took part in a workshop led by Kimberly Anne, otherwise known as LANTA. Immensely talented, LANTA aims to create blissful, 80s-inspired, epic pop that helps people feel more accepted and less alone, making them uniquely qualified to teach and guide them in the art of song-writing and music-making that expresses truth that comes from looking inwards. 

Similarly, filmmaker Kit Griffiths led a workshop for the media students, encouraging them to take part in an exercise of writing down their streams of consciousness, to identify what made them happy, and to generate ideas for the films and videos that they will present for the exhibition. In the next few months, the art students and theatre students will take part in their own workshops, and they are all looking forward to the experience. Having been in the same position last year, there is something delightfully nerve-wracking about producing a piece of art to display for the world to see, and the first time is well and truly invigorating.

On the other side of the festival, preparations for the Youth Art Trail are truly underway; I am contacting various locally owned businesses across Margate, Ramsgate and Broadstairs, and inquiring about their interest in displaying young people’s art in their shop windows. So far, many of the shops I have been in contact with have expressed interest in taking part, and I have continued to make inquiries and take measurements of shop windows.

Bringing people together and building community is what the Power of Women festival is all about, and the people of Thanet have proven to always be willing and even excited to get involved in the arts. While it is still daunting reaching out to make contact, with every response and agreement I feel accomplished and satisfied, and even find myself becoming excited for how the Youth Art Trail will turn out.

Meanwhile, Liberty is putting her creative skills to good use once again, endeavouring to create a visually compelling and awesome map for the Youth Trail for people to follow when the festival finally opens in March. Courtney has also redirected her efforts and is trying her hand at assisting with the festival’s social media presence; organising a schedule and content – like video posts, photos and blog posts – to post online to invigorate everyone, as we countdown to the festival. 

The New Year has brought new challenges, and we are all the more ready to dive in.

The mission at POW is to celebrate gender equality through the creative arts. Art changes the world, it shows us what we could be, what we could have, it is a glimpse into a future that is brighter than our present. By inviting young people to this festival and experience, POW is giving young people of Thanet the ability to envision the world they wish to see in the future, and I believe that is definitely worth celebrating.