Young people are to be asked to help shape the future of the arts in the Isle of Man by giving their input into a major new strategy.
 
The Isle of Man Arts Council is to electronically survey 12 to 18 year olds between now and 24th October.
 
They will be asked which areas of the arts they are interested in getting involved with; where they’d like to see these take place; what prohibits their participation at present and which areas of the arts they feel are under-represented in the Island.
 
The survey is being carried out by the Isle of Man Arts Council as part of its youth engagement programme for Island of Culture 2014.
 
The survey can be found at www.surveymonkey.com/s/WWC6TF8 Participants will be entered into a draw for a ?25 iTunes voucher.
 
The Arts Council’s newly established Youth Arts Forum, sponsored by Manx Telecom, will use the findings of the survey to contribute to the new arts strategy the Arts Council will be publishing in 2015.
 
The forum, which was launched in March and meets at the Department of Education and Children’s Youth Arts Centre, comprises five members but is seeking more participation and anyone interested should email iomyouthartsforum@gmail.com.
 
Geoff Corkish MBE, MLC, Chairman of the Arts Council, said: ‘The Island is blessed to have a traditionally strong participation in, and talent for, the arts. Many home-grown artists have succeeded on the world stage in fine art, sculpture, music, dance, drama, fashion, photography and other fields.
 
‘Making arts and culture accessible to all raises our quality of life and makes the Isle of Man an inviting, interesting and stimulating place to live and work. It also brings an economic boost by making the Island more attractive to visitors and investors, who drive growth in our wealth-creating sectors.’
 
Mr Corkish said: ‘We established the Youth Arts Forum to provide a lasting legacy of this year’s cultural celebrations in the form of a body that encourages young people to shape what’s on offer for people their age.
 
‘Although only recently established, it is becoming the voice of young people on the Isle of Man who participate or are interested in the arts and they are using it to take charge of where they want the arts to go.’
 
As part of the youth engagement programme, the Arts Council has provided many opportunities for young people to get involved in the arts during Island of Culture 2014, among them an author in residence in schools, a visiting dance group and the arrival, this month, of the Philharmona Orchestra’s pioneering MusicLab