Walking Dead artist Charlie Adlard invites young people between the ages of 18 and 25 to join him at the Flaxmill Maltings where he will deliver a Comic Art Demonstration on Saturday 7th August. 

This event kickstarts a series of free workshops delivered by local arts charity The Hive in partnership with the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings, as part of the MYCollege project throughout August. This initiative aims to reach out to young people who may be struggling with anxiety and support them to learn new skills, engage in fun, creative activities and build social confidence. Funded by The National Lottery Community Fund these workshops have been designed to engage young people with the unique history and environment of the Flaxmill Maltings. The Hive’s CEO Cerin Mill’s shines a light on this new collaboration; 

‘The Hive is delighted to be partnering with the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings in offering summer arts workshops for young people with a heritage flavour, giving them a chance to experience this extraordinary building's heritage and interpret creatively a response to the space. Hive artists will lead several workshops and share their skills and expertise, this is a great offer for young people interested in the arts and heritage too.’ 

Stop Motion Animation workshops will be delivered on Sunday 8th August giving a taste of animation techniques used by professionals and will focus on bringing its history of the building to life! Artist Sonia Leong will also offer a Manga illustration workshop on Saturday 21st August, giving young artists a chance to explore their illustration skills and respond to Shrewsbury Flaxmill Maltings as inspiration. 

These events have been co-ordinated by three of the Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings’ young volunteers as part of a Heritage Open Days project called New Wave. Volunteer Molly said: “This has been a great project to be involved in, and a great opportunity to involve young people in heritage in a fun and engaging way”, Kryssa said: “I’ve enjoyed working with the Hive and Friends of the Flaxmill Maltings to bring this project to life” and Vic said: “We are planning another great event for the Heritage Open Days in September, so keep an eye on the Friends’ website for more to come”. 

The New Wave project supports a small cohort of Heritage Open Days organisers focused around working with young adults to develop new, innovative Heritage events. 

For more information about each event and to book your free ticket please visit https://www.flaxmill-maltings.co.uk/news/free-arts-events-young-adults 

If you have any further questions or requests about the information provided in the above press release, please do not hesitate to contact me via email or call 07948 803066.