New Wave is a touring exhibition initiated by Toni Davey RWA. IT aims to explore the value of arts education for our economy, society, and humanity.

The artwork featured is by former students of Toni Davey from West Somerset Community College, Minehead who are now working as professional creatives. They are a response to Hokusai’s iconic woodcut, ‘The Great Wave of Kanagawa’. This is a piece that has held a personal fascination for Toni over several decades.

New Wave shows the thirst and talent for creativity with which just a few of the young people from that school emerged and headed out into the world. But the project’s impact is much more than this.

It speaks to the value of art for young people at a time when it is being stripped from the school curriculum. In so doing it provides a vital but uncomfortable comment on the impact of arts education. Demonstrating, rather than bemoaning what will be lost if the current side-lining of creative subjects from our schools is not arrested.

Supported by Contains Art and Somerset Art Works.