Dover at Night -celebrating community and creativity

Dover at Night was a free drop-in event trail, led by the Maison Dieu and Artswork in partnership with over 20 community partners. Along with encouraging youth voice through creativity the overall aim of the event was to celebrate the town’s rich history and heritage, encouraging local participation.   

There was an action-packed programme of art and craft activities, storytelling, conservation-in-action, digital projections, music, dance, and drama. At Artswork, we aim to empower young people through creativity and one of the ways we can do that is by listening to youth voices. In this event young voices were reflected on an inspiring artwork based on young people’s values created by more than 1000 local schoolchildren from the Samphire Academy Trust which was projected onto the inside and outside of buildings.

We witnessed a lot of excitement throughout the night where some young people were making TikTok videos and others were so proud to see their creations projected in Market Square and on other venues.   

Our Creative Producer Apprentice, Lucy, assisted a Glow in the Dark Graffiti workshop with a local artist, Tim Smithen that night. Below, Lucy tells us her experience of Dover at Night: 

“As a Creative Producer Apprentice at Artswork, my role at a community event such as Dover at Night is to provide admin, production, and creative support.  

During Dover at Night, I was a workshop assistant for the Glow in the Dark Graffiti workshop with local artist and owner of BRB Tattoo studio and Gallery, Tim Smithen. 

Throughout the night, I saw families engaging in creativity, some who regularly pick up their art supplies, some rekindling their love for art, and others trying it out for the first time. It was clear that everyone, young and old, was having fun creating something with their community. 

My favourite part of the night was seeing the scale of the event, with what felt like every building illuminated and bustling with children and young people carrying a haul of their creations. The local impact of Dover at Night was incredible, a parent shared that “It’s just incredible to have something like this happening in our town tonight”.

– Lucy, Artswork Creative Producer Apprentice

Dover at Night was led by the Maison Dieu and Artswork in partnership with over 20 community partners and has been made possible with funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Arts Council England.