How it Started
Albert Einstein said 'creativity is intelligence, having fun'..
After a successful stint working at a local SEMH school, Mark used the Maximum Effort Studio as an alternative educational setting for some of the school's more reluctant learners.
Young people that were unable to attend lessons due to burnout, anxiety or behavioural reasons, could be neither educated onsite or integrated with other pupils safely, began attending the studio and gradually began to use art to express themselves.
Often finding the lesser crowded environment a much more pleasing and productive one to function in.
What began with one young man attending the studio daily at the start of the academic year, ended with a daily attendance of no less than three (and often five) youngsters from the same school.
The impact that the studio and its allure had on these youngsters was both immediate and undeniable, with several attendees returning to regular classroom based lessons after lengthy spells in isolated learning scenarios.
Unfortunately, a change up of the senior teaching staff within the school for the next academic year meant that the studio, despite its positive impact on the many of the students was not utilised again.
With the success of the session at the studio being a catalyst for ideas, Mark left the school and set out to make what had been such a positive tool at the school, available to as many youngsters as possible.
Both via educational settings and direct.
The evening sessions were received really well almost straight away with many attendees still coming along weekly, Nearly two years on.
Mark is in constant contact with schools and local authorities to offer their students day sessions with a brand of fun and inclusive learning where creativity is at the core.
How It's Going
It is impossible to ignore the therapuetic characteristics of art
An aspect of the club that Mark did not foresee was the social aspect of it, seeing youngsters of different ages, genders, cultures, classes and races forge friendships based on a mutual fondness of art.
With around thirty (and growing) youngsters stopping by per week that work on a range of projects, either self directed or designed and led by Mark, both with the most amount of creative freedom possible.
The club is under constant improvement, both aesthetically and in content, to ensure the youngsters who attend, get the most out of their sessions both from an art and a social perspective.
What is Next?
With consistent and continued improvement at the forefront, we are currently in the process of gaining a recognised qualification that we can offer from Maximum Effort, something that can assist youngsters as they progress through their school lives and beyond.
It is key that the youngsters learn the importance of doing something they enjoy as a career, if that is art based, the club will do everything possible to nurture that interest in a way not possible in mainstream education facilities given that art and design are not classed as primary subjects.
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