Art of the Roadz Colchester launching free DJ workshops

Musician, DJ, and podcaster Owen Louis, 49, founded the Art of the Roadz series, a collaboration with Emma Howe, the director of The Minories.

The Art of the Roadz series was previously awarded funding as part of Essex County Council’s arts and cultural fund for 2025.

The money is being used to continue the series of events, but it also started offering a free rapping and lyric writing workshops back in May.

It’s now hosting its first ever DJ workshop on Sunday and limited spaces are still available for children aged nine or older.

Youngsters will be able to learn how to mix, time, use DJ equipment and more.

Workshop – the poster for the DJ workshop (Image: Art of the Roadz) Owen said: “For me DJ’ing has is an art form I fell in love with in my early teens and have been blessed enough to perform at a professional level.

“I’ve always felt it is underrepresented in the arts and having  an established art gallery like the Minories.

“Minories director Emma Howe not only agreed, but also helped set up the infrastructure to make this possible, as well as helping achieve funding via  Essex County Council, Arts & Culture fund which allows us to deliver these classes free of charge.

“It is a dream come true for me as this idea has been rattling around in my brain since around 2010 seeing it turn into a reality has got me super excited about perhaps starting someone’s journey into DJ’ing and motivated to deliver more classes to the community.”

The DJ workshops are being run by drum and bass artist Uniques who has been professionally DJing for more than two decades.

Venue – The Minories (Image: Supplied) He was also a DJ for pirate radio station Kool FM which is now legally part of Rinse FM the radio station which helped launch famous musicians such as Dizzee Rascal, Katy B, and Skepta.

The Art of the Roadz events have highlighted home grown talent and viral stars like rapper, author and TV presenter, Tyone Lindo, better known as Big Narstie, who headlined Art of the Roadz part two.

He also spoke to The Gazette after the event and revealed the city is where he “failed” his driving test.

Hip-hop and grime artist Devlin and viral artist M Dot R headlined the third Art of the Roadz.

The next rap workshop takes place on August 17 with limited spaces available.

To sign-up for free and book a space for the DJ workshop, email artoftheroadz@gmail.com.