Trish Dalby, Chair of Generation Hull, talks about how the project will help young people across the city experience art and culture.
Hull’s Local Cultural Education Partnership, Generation Hull, is delighted to receive the support of Esteem in its Place Partnership Project bid to Arts Council England (ACE) to enable the children and young people of Hull to access high quality art and culture.
“Fight for Our Creative Future” is how the young people of Hull express their need to see art and culture in the school arena. As part of the Building Schools for the Future programme, Esteem has delivered fantastic facilities in our primary and secondary schools for young people to participate in artistic endeavours and experiences, but the school curriculum does not always allow the space to do this.
Generation Hull’s three-year bid to ACE builds on a pilot developed over the last two years, and will bring together local artists, performers and arts organisations with schools and youth groups to create work. 18 schools and youth organisations across the city will have their own Arts Council where young people will choose which art media they want to explore and with which artists they want to work.
Teachers, youth leaders, parents, carers and young people have given their own time over the last two years to prove the concept of an Arts Council in schools.
Malet Lambert:
“We now have an hour lunch break, so we can have the Arts Council gatherings during dinner time and have different people attending from across the subjects. We also have a new room for photography, and students have had their work published as a result of our meetings. My Pockets animator Peter came in and has created a pop-up film workshop. The Arts Council is actually giving children that are lost in the big group a space to be heard and seen, and a whole mixture are now coming through, and they all feel valued.”
Ron Dearing UTC:
“The Arts Council are bringing Glastonbury to Ron Dearing. Amongst other things, they are working with Mambo Jambo, Indie Circus Skills, Karaoke Jam Centre, and Spoken Word. We have a meditation and reading room and 15 different activities. including a fire performer, pub games and street food.
“The Arts Council were involved in planning an Arts Market for Christmas and Big Draw this month. They are delivering a presentation to encourage new attendees. Teachers fed back on how good the Arts Council were in supporting the launch of the STEAM studios.”
In addition to the creation of work, the project also creates 60 work placements and 10 apprenticeships in the creative industries for young people. Although our city has a wealth of arts and cultural organisations, they have limited resources to employ or mentor apprentices; this bid will enable a supportive programme to be developed and enable young people to understand how to access a career in arts and culture without having to leave their city.
This three-year bid will see almost £980k invested, both cash and in-kind, in the children and young people of Hull. None of this is possible without the support of local organisations such as Esteem. Thank you!
Trish Dalby
Chair, Generation Hull
Find out more about Generation Hull.