Inspired by the story of Beauty and the Beast, this year’s family pantomime at Lighthouse, Poole’s centre for the arts, a group of young people aged four to 11 have made self-portraits that are being exhibited under the title Beauty Isn’t Skin Deep.

“The project is about exploring how other people perceive us and how we perceive ourselves and what the differences in those perceptions say about us,” explains Perdie Bargh, Producer: Learning and Participation at Lighthouse.

“We asked groups from Oakdale Junior School and the SENsational Youth Clubs on Canford Heath to think about what people perceive just by looking at us and how that might be different from how we think about ourselves. They’ve made some incredible artworks and, of course, it all ties in with the themes in Beauty and the Beast.”

Beverley Clarke, a Youth Worker for BCP Council’s SENsational positive activities youth clubs for young people aged 12 to 19 widened the invitation to some mainstream clubs as well and was delighted with the response.

She says: “What was really interesting was that the young people from the mainstream clubs used words that were far more positive to describe themselves than the young people with additional needs, but were less willing to explore what other people might think about them.

“They’ve all put such a lot of work into the artworks and we’ve had some amazing submissions – one young person has made an image using words in Braille and they’ve been very careful in considering the words they’ve used to frame their self-portraits.”

The exhibition Beauty Isn’t Skin Deep can be seen in the Top Floor Gallery at Lighthouse until 31 December.

Beauty and the Beast, starring Chris Jarvis and Michelle Collins, runs until 31 December. Tickets on sale now at www.lighthousepoole.co.uk.