THE chance to learn graffiti street art is on offer at Mansfield library.

That is the message from Nottinghamshire County Council, whose libraries and youth service have joined forces to lay on a series of events for young people this spring. There are a variety of ongoing sessions at Mansfield Library providing creative opportunities for young people.

Coun John Knight, committee chairman for culture at the council, said: “These projects are good examples of our work with youth service colleagues and partner agencies to deliver vibrant and relevant programmes of activities for young people. “It can help encourage even more young people to come into our libraries and to inspire them to produce some of their own work inspired by words, music, language and the arts.”

The council has received funding from The Mighty Creatives to run a series of free arts and music based projects at libraries, including Mansfield.

The next will be an urban art street session based around graffiti street art on March 10 at Mansfield Library from 4.30pm to 5.45pm.

Graffiti artist Nathan Bainbridge, tag name kid30, will teach youngsters how to create their own street art using marker pens at the session. An exhibition of works from two similar sessions held recently at Worksop Library, in Memorial Avenue. Nathan, based at Switch Studios in Huntingdon Street, Nottingham, and said: “I am pleased to be working with the county council to host these sessions in libraries. They are a great location for young people to get creative, socialise and learn more about urban art. “It is a huge art form now across the world, and especially in major cities. Locally, there are public areas where graffiti art is on display such as skate parks and Mansfield Folkhouse, and these sessions teach young people about the art itself.”

Other recent sessions funded by the Mighty Creatives at Mansfield Library included the Mouthy Poets, based around the power of words, the use of language and making poetry relevant to modern young people.

There was an Urban Projections session based around the visual arts, using video and film edited together to create new works of art. Managers at Sherwood Forest and Rufford country parks are preparing for a good weekend if forecast sunshine arrives in Nottinghamshire.

For details about these and other events in libraries and country parks, go to www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/whatson