Inspire Libraries, Nottinghamshire has received the Community, Participatory and Libraries Award at the latest Big Draw Festival Awards for both 2020 and 2021.

The Big Draw Festival Awards annually honour drawing and creativity on a global scale by presenting seven awards to organisations, individuals, and schools that showcase the significant impact of drawing as a means of communication, innovation, and inclusivity during The World’s Biggest Drawing Festival.

Launched in April 2016, INSPIRE delivers the following services in Nottinghamshire – public libraries, archives, arts, instrumental music teaching in schools, Community Learning and Skills Service, Nottinghamshire Music Hub and the Education Library Service.

Nottinghamshire County Council is the first in the East Midlands to set up an organisation to manage its libraries, archives, learning, and cultural services across the county.

For The Big Draw 2020: A Climate of Change, Inspire partnered with Miner2Major, a landscape partnership scheme which encourages people to get involved with projects aimed at celebrating and conserving Nottinghamshire’s Heritage.

Those who took part designed and painted silk bunting flags that were displayed in a touring exhibition across Nottinghamshire libraries over a year. Inspire Libraries and Miner2Major collaborated with artist Jess Kemp, whose work is featured in the exhibition and who led communities in the Miner2Major area to discover Sherwood’s nature and heritage through the resulting artwork.

Sadly Jess passed away in 2021, but her exhibition and her creations will continue to be shown at festivals in tribute to her kindness, friendship and artistic talent.

For The Big Draw: Make the Change in 2021, Inspire introduced a project called FACES, PLACES at libraries and across primary schools, which celebrated place and our connection to it by making a mass portrait of people in Nottinghamshire.

Working with international artist Hetain Patel, the project used the story of The Mayflower as a starting point for inspiration.

Helen Ackroyd, libraries and culture manager at Inspire, said: “The Big Draw is such a fabulous organisation, community and framework and for more than 10 years we’ve used it to reach and engage audiences, support partners, generate ideas and create a dialogue in visual form, enjoying all the benefits of drawing along the way. Thank you Big Draw for recognising everyone involved in these two projects, both delivered in difficult circumstances. Keep your eyes peeled for our next one.”