YOUNG people are being encouraged to get involved with local democracy by taking part in a new arts project.

In the run up to next year's general and local elections, teenagers who will be voting for the first time are being invited to work with professional artists and transform old, metal ballot boxes into pieces of art.

The boxes will be used both as musical instruments for a promenade performance, as well as transformed for an exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum next March.

Yvette Turnbull, Creative Economy Officer for Ryedale District Council, which is coordinating the 'Democracy Rocks' project, said it was very exciting and innovative.

"Our aim is to target young people who are voting for the first time and stress the importance of getting involved and why every individual vote matters," she added.

"This is a fantastic idea to do something creative with the old ballot boxes while engaging young people - it is going to be amazing."

Simon Copley, the council's Democratic Services Manager, said they wanted to ensure that everybody who was entitled to was registered to vote and to increase participants’ likelihood of voting in the elections.

“In the past we have delivered a number of initiatives to encourage young people to vote, but this year, with an entirely new system for registering to vote and key national and local elections on the horizon, I was keen to do something different, and the need to replace our old, heavy ballot boxes offered too good an opportunity to miss," he added.

"This is far more exciting than just running a poster campaign and, because the project ends with a performance and an exhibition, there will be an opportunity for lots of Ryedale’s residents and visitors to see the work that the young people have created."

The council is working with NYMAZ, the youth music organisation, and Helmsley Arts Centre, to give young people the opportunity to re-use its decommissioned ballot boxes as musical instruments, sculptures and blank canvases.

Heidi Johnson, director of NYMAZ, said they were very keen to take part in the project.

“We feel that art has an important relationship with democratic processes, with music in particular playing a significant role in political demonstrations and marches historically.

“We’re excited about the musical possibilities that the ballot boxes present. They can be struck with sticks, used as cymbals, filled to create shakers, and have their pitch altered through the use of water.”

Two of the artists who will be working on the project are Billy Hickling, a musician and veteran cast member of Stomp, the percussion group that has had huge success in London’s West End, and Lyn Wait, a visual artist who has, for many years helped to stage Ryedale Festival’s Community Opera.

They will be working closely with North Yorkshire County Council’s 'Connecting Youth Culture', part of the Youth Support Service, to ensure that young people from all backgrounds have an opportunity to take part.

Workshops will run over the winter, ending with a performance and an exhibition at Ryedale Folk Museum’s Gallery from March until the May 2015 elections.