CORNWALL, UK.- In Cornwall, the Arts Award is piloted through Creative Partnerships Cornwall, involving 18 schools across the county. Here is one student's account of the past year. Daniel Ponting is a student at Bodmin College, taking an Advanced Vocational Certificate in Education (AVCE) Art and Design Course. He is very keen to go to art college.

The Arts Award pilot has given Dan the motivation to participate in local arts projects, organise his own events and boost his artistic development. As well as fulfilling his coursework obligations, Dan has embarked on new media projects, exploring photography, video, mixed media installation, the use of Photoshop, projected photographs and painting.

For his community, Dan has experimented with stark black and white photography and audio recording, gathering valuable historical information for a local celebratory project. With his mates, Dan has explored digital video media, working with a dance platform called The Bubble Chamber to produce wild visuals for two nights of live VJing.

'We spent a day with MiniDV cameras filming video relating to bubbles or circles which we then edited into short clips for use in the VJ set, the live performance was exhilarating and so much fun!'

As part of his leadership challenge, he worked with year nine students and primary children, exciting them with after-school art clubs in digital media.

'I really enjoyed working with the various age groups and the children seemed to really love the instant quality and the wacky effects of the images they made.

He also acted as a peer mentor at his College’s Learning Support Centre. They made and decorated beautiful papier-mache bowls, with images from magazines that they reacted to - either liking or disliking - and decorative patterns based on African imagery.'

Dan’s achievements have won him a Local Authority community arts award and he now regularly represents the Cornwall Arts Award hub at events!

'Taking part in the Arts Award has been a true pleasure and has given me the chance to develop my own leadership skills. It has provided me further recognition for my artistic endeavours with the invaluable help, support and advice from inspirational artists and professionals. It really has been fun!' Dan Ponting.