THE work of young York artists will feature in a city-wide exhibition to be launched early in 2016 by According to McGee director Greg McGee.

This follows an arts award night held last week by the Tower Street's gallery's charity arm, New Visuality, at The Melbourne Centre, Escrick Street, in recognition of the artistic creativity of the five to 25 age group.

"It was an old-school celebration of new-school skills," says Greg. "In collaboration with the Blueberry Academy and York Mind, we've had 80 young people from outside mainstream education integrate with 80 children from the mainstream system.

"It was a pleasure, from start to finish, to see just how easily innovative technology can ensure inclusivity happens. Creativity is great, but creativity coupled with the kind of digital kit reserved for high-calibre research is even better."

The issue of instilling cutting-dge innovation in New Visuality's outreach projects, known as Art Camps, has been close to Greg's heart ever since the charity and According To McGee helped to harness York's UNESCO status of City of Media Arts.

"It's very gratifying, and constantly mind blowing, to see how new apps and hackathons and game jams have reinvented the creativity of some of the most marginalised people in the city. The sessions themselves are built on cooperation, and then the culminating exhibitions will have work from all young people, from all backgrounds, exhibited alongside each other. That's pretty inclusive stuff."

Last week's arts awards came with their own cache: nationally recognised certificates and qualifications, with the bronze making up a percentage of a GCSE. "They provide a rigorous art journey and strengthen CVs," says Greg. "Every one of these young people deserved their arts awards, and we're especially grateful to the Lord Mayor of York, the Sheriff, and their respective consorts for coming over and handing out the awards personally.

"The Lord Mayor [Cllr Sonia Crisp] stuck around afterwards, chatting and laughing, and went the extra mile to make the young people feel at their ease, whether they were five or 25, whether they were in a wheelchair or not."

The multi-faceted nature of the project is not as difficult to manage as it sounds, suggests Greg. "The project, Text, has been funded by Arts Council England's Grants for the Arts, with subsidies from York Council's Shine, but just as importantly the network of stakeholders we've got in place have ensured that everyone's chipped in with time and expertise," he says.

"Blueberry Academy do such a great job of consolidating the CVs of young people with learning difficulties and physical disabilities, it's always an honour to walk alongside them."

Blueberry Academy principal Katie Ireland says: "We're always thrilled to work in collaboration with New Visuality as it gives our trainees and the other young artists a great opportunity to develop and receive recognition for their achievements. Blueberry Academy really value creativity as we blend art, enterprise and creativity through our work at the Melbourne Centre and Blueberry at Silver Street. Our trainees and staff feel honoured to host these awards."

Greg is looking forward to next year's exhibitions, which will build on the success of this year's Art Camp, reaching out to a new cohort of young artists. "This year, we had digital work created by young people who had never picked up a pencil in their life as part of Illuminating York. We showcased Blueberry Academy learners' films as projections in our front window when Aesthetica Short Film Festival was running," he says.

Next year, we want to repeat these high profile, innovative events, and we're looking at working with York City Centre Churches, Science City York, Acomb's summer blast [the ADAM Festival], York Explore's library spaces, and the University of York's Digital Creative Hub."

York can only benefit from a network of such generous, hardworking stakeholders, reasons Greg. "The real winners, however, are the young artists themselves. I've seen up close the difference these projects makes; everyone involved should give themselves a real pat on the back," he says. "2016 is going to be a creative year all over the city."