'' Metamorphose
10 February to 17 February 2018
FPG Create will host a group display in celebration of young artists who live in Southend, showcasing their skills and the navigation of their creative pathways.
In collaboration with Southend Youth Council, FPG’s Young Artists’ clubs have set out to explore their collective and individual identities as young people in the town.
Leading to the undertaking of Arts Awards at Silver and Gold levels, FPG’s Learning Team has nurtured the exploration of a wide range of media, representing each individual’s talents and interests.
Southend Youth Council aims to give young people a voice and have a say in what is happening in the place they live. It is made up of Youth Councillors from across Southend aged 11 to 18, who work hard to present the views of young people to decision makers, both locally and nationally. The Youth Council is chaired by Youth Mayor Maise Riley, who approached FPG with the idea for this exhibition.''
An exhibition organised in collaboration with Southend Youth Council, including the work of FPG’s Silver and Gold arts award groups, and the current Southend Youth Mayor. The exhibition is a celebration of young creativity in Southend and will use and expand the skills of our young artists and members of the youth council.
I worked with the Southend Youth Mayor to execute her ideas of putting on an exhibition to showcase young creativity in Southend, and explore how the different backgrounds and experiences of the area can affect the work that’s produced. We worked on developing her initial plan into something that was manageable and flexible, that would accommodate the variation of artists and still communicate the artists backgrounds and surroundings.
It was my responsibility to keep in contact with the Southend Youth Mayor, and keep her involved with any developments. I also was responsible for the logistics of the exhibition, working closely with arts award leaders to introduce the exhibition to the artists, assist them with understanding the brief and ensure they’re on the right track for making work for the exhibition. I needed to regularly catch up with the artists and their work to ensure we were able to facilitate the exhibition, and I arranged a technician to install the exhibition and also involve the artists in the curatorial and installation decisions of the work.
My biggest priority was to involve as many young artists as possible in putting on this exhibition, and making sure the experience was beneficial for them. I worked with Silver and Gold Arts Award groups to introduce the exhibition in a way that was relevant to them.
I was also responsible for creating the invite using a piece of artwork from the exhibition, developing a press release text and map of the exhibition. During the exhibition opening I worked with the young artists to ensure they were taking an active role in sharing their work and interacting with visitors.
