Seminar
Supporting young people’s participation in galleries and the arts
Tolbooth, Stirling, 26 November 2008
The morning session featured four presentations about working with young people in galleries and the arts, taking engage’s envision project and handbook as a starting point. The afternoon session was an opportunity for discussion of the issues raised and gave participants the chance to share their work with each other.
These notes reflect the discussions from the afternoon session.
Why did you want to come today?
1 – For inspiration from hearing about other projects working with young people
2 – For some answers about working with young people
3 – For tips of working with young people
4 – For affirmation that you’re not completely off the mark
5 – For Sharing your experience of projects
Why gather people’s experiences?
- So that you can compare models of delivery (dependent to specific situation: building based, artist led, outreach, sustained)
- So that people can learn from others’ practice
- So that people can benchmark against others’ good practice
- so that people can share and then develop what it is that they are already doing – rather than inventing new projects
- See what affects/shapes the work
- So people can be more aware of what shapes the work
- To give people more ability to shape the work
- To see how Engage can build on/develop people’s experiences within this work
Suggested ways to develop working
Develop blog – for people to comment
Develop blog - peer critique of case studies
Develop mentoring scheme
Develop research project
Provide Go-between service (as someone who knows both youth work and arts work)
Develop network – subgroup of engage?
Participants were asked to think about their most recent project working with young people and give their reponses to a set of questions. These responses are collated below:
What was your own professional/personal reason for being involved in working with young people?
Person-led
Creativity
For my own personal enjoyment
For excitement, adrenaline, and problem solving challenges
Personal development
To broaden professional horizons
To broaden my skills
Opportunity to work with young people arose
To experience delivery/direct contact
Responding to participant need (rather than demand)
Organisation- led
Because there was a pot of money
Responding to professional demand
To bring together and therefore further reach of resources
To develop a demand and respond to it
Consultation
Shared research
To engage with collections
What was your role on the project?
Co-ordinator
Faciltator
Organiser
Marketeer
Administrator
Liaison/link between partners
Documenter
Contracting
Artist
Youth worker
Project manager
Compere
Youth arts worker
Fundraiser/Budget manager
Reporter/Evaluator
Where did the idea for the project come from?
Bringing together a whole lot of ideas from different contacts
Saw a gap in provision (which happened to link with own interest)
Coming across new company, liking their work and wanting to use them to reproduce
Development from previous work
Within arts development plan, with further youth services input
Came from higher up the organisation (developed prior to employment – responding to a brief)
From the exhibition
From the collection
Civic driven
Europe
Local authority
Wider policy agenda
Who were the stakeholders?
Youth agencies
Youth workers
Young people
Arts development team (local authority)
Cultural co-ordinators
Secondary school
Gallery
Gallery visitors
Education dept (local authority)
National companies
Funders (funding partners)
Artists
Arts workers
Wider communities
Museums
How long did the project last for?
10 weeks (y.p. came in week 3)
1 day (delivery point)
3 months
less than a day
week
2 years (one more to go)
14 months
12 weeks
10 months (y.p in from 5 months)
18 months (within first month)
24 months (y.p. came in from 3 months)
24 months (y.p. from beginning)
27 months (y.p. in from 4 months)
12 week block, but five years (4 months in)
How did you recruit the young people?
From exisiting youth groups
Idea was generated from youth group – they came to us first
Schools
Afterschools
From flyering at the bus stop
Agency referrals
Open advertising
What was the goal for the project?
Benefiting young people
Impart new skills
To provide an active creative learning experience
To develop literacy skills
Showcase young people’s potential/contribution
To help foster a positive national self-identity amongst participants
To encourage communication and confidence
To encourage further critical capabilities
Social imperatives (self confidence, self-awareness… “all the usuals”)
To find out if further arts provision is needed
Benefiting organisation
To engage an audience
To build relationships, from which to develop further work
To find/build new audience
To build confidence around visiting
Create a resource for a museum
To meet young people – for further consultation
Increase young people’s participation in the arts
Benefiting wider culture
To create oral histories
To create exhibition piece
Make artwork
To facilitate intercultural dialogue
To have wider engagement with the arts
What were the challenges to this work?
Other professionals (in this case teachers) willing to work differently - outside their normal practice
Difficulties in partnership relations: creating demand on partners (in this case heavily reliant on volunteers)
Physical geography (which impacts on transport and time)
Personality clashes: within groups (group dynamics)
Personality clashes: with other professionals
Raising money once you have started (working developmentally)
Finding young people
My ability to cope with changing group
Maintaining/completing paperwork with partners
Audience development agenda impinging
Having the time to commit
Young people’s territorial issues
Having adequate funding
Finding the balance between artistic freedom and suitability of subject matter
Breaking into youthwork provision (potentially disrupting provision)
Inadequate lead-in time to dev relationships between agencies
Maintaining focus, interest and direction
Young people turning up
Having sufficient staffing cover (which might allow other professionals to commit time)
Countering young people’s formal education training/learnt approach
Stepping on people’s toes, when their work is particularly hard won (professional territorialism)
Suitable and affordable artist accommodation
Partners dropped out due to direction change – impact on providing adequate staffing
Maintaining young people’s interest
Maintaining the young people’s commitment as the direction changes
What were the main successes of the project?
Outcome – object based
A film made over short period of time, and shown to wider audience
Completion and hanging of artwork
Creating a resource which can outlive project
Outcome – experience based
Enjoyment
Artist’s connection with young peopleSeeing participants’ enjoyment, leading to participant commitment
Seeing the children’s pride
Bringing diverse groups together
Outcome – person based
Sense of achievement in young people
Role models
Development of friendships
Outcome - wider
Ripple effect
Having core-group assist with wider delivery of workshops for other y.p. (peer education)
Community links being increased
Challenging audience perceptions
The dialogue witnessed in the group – and the potential for further
What prevents you doing more of this work?
Time
Contact
Conflicting priorities
Suitable venues
Capacity to deliver
Remit
Sustainability/fragility
Paperwork
Shifting groups
Adults mediating relationships
Further questions
Review
What did you think of the day?
What did you think of the speakers/presentations?
What do you think of the publication?
Are there any specific comments you wish to make on either?
Has either publication or seminar illuminated anything for you?
Future
How do we work with young people to devise projects?
How might engage help you develop work in this area at your organisation?
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