Gatekeepers to the arts

Young people and the arts. You’d think they went together like felt pens and colouring books, like pop music and Radio One. Ah, you see, that’s the trouble: we’re out of touch already and we’re barely three sentences in. Let me elaborate.

Three years ago I started work as an Education and Outreach Co-Ordinator at Artrix Arts Centre in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. I had watched Artrix in its planning, in its construction and in its early years establishing itself as a venue. I had taken my kids to the occasional children’s play and drama group, and we had stuck some felt on a banner made to mark the opening in 2005.

When the opportunity arose to be on the tiny staff team, even as a part-timer, I leapt at it. I know the area, I had taught in several local schools and I had a passion for engaging young people in creative activities. It seemed an absolute gift. Plus, the post was Arts Council England-funded for a year, so there was a little bit of money to establish the role.

They need to see the adults in their lives modelling a love of and involvement in the arts first

I spent my first day setting up the Twitter account and tidying up the patchy Facebook profile, dreaming of all the fantastically successful projects and activities I would be devising and running for the youth of the region, and how I would change lives. In those first weeks I trawled through the schools’ directory and built an email list. I called everyone I could think of who had a vague working connection with young people and I grilled my own offspring, their friends and pretty much anyone else I could talk to without it seeming weird. I was determined that this would be led by the young people's own demands and needs, none of the old ‘doing arts TO kids’.

I put outreach into action and visited schools and youth clubs. One particularly memorable evening in Rubery, I was chatting to some teenagers to try and establish some kind of network for young bands with built-in industry support and gigging opportunities. I sat in the kitchen area with a coffee and a bag of jelly babies listening with a sinking heart to three lads telling me: “Well, we have guitars and that and we’re working on a song but the drummer left and really we just say we’re in a band to get the girls…” That was to be one of the more positive moments.

What was I missing? I hoped fervently that young people were not actually as feckless and lazy as the media would have us believe. I was trying to find something that they would actually enjoy! Isn’t that what the arts is all about? I wanted to take creativity out to them, to break down the barriers and let them know that they were also welcome in our venue, that it had something to offer them, that it wasn’t all elitist stuff for old rich people.

I managed to secure some additional funding to run outreach projects with hard-to-reach and disengaged youngsters. I figured that they were ‘hard to reach’ for a reason so I went to meet some of the agencies and organisations who worked with them. I presented my schemes which included, among others, a graffiti art project culminating in a night-time painting session in the park, a film-making project incorporating professional stage-fighting training, and a music tech session making and mixing urban beats. Those who worked with challenging youngsters looked at me askance. Although I made it clear that each project would be guided by the needs of the group, I didn’t seem to be able to get across to them that I was not some peculiar individual somehow out to give them extra work for my own gain. Eventually these and many other projects did run, with great success, but it took almost two years of badgering and cajoling the staff in youth groups, schools and pupil referral units. Two years of convincing them that a creative project might be just what these kids needed, and that it wasn’t just a jolly. The kids, on the other hand, almost all demanded to know why we hadn’t done this years ago and were able to reflect with great insight upon what they had learned and how it would change them.

Bringing things up to date, in October Artrix hosted the first Worcestershire ‘Youth Arts Chat’. Thirty young people involved in the creative arts gathered together to discuss what they wanted to see provided in the area in terms of arts activities, how the existing opportunities could better be publicised and whether they could play a role in leading arts development. It was inspirational to hear young people speaking with such passion and eloquence about the importance of the arts in their lives. The professionals there grilled them on what we as providers could do better.

“More information about what’s going on” came the cry. “How?” we cried back. “Adverts and articles in local papers” they said. “Doing that” we countered. “Social networks like Facebook and Twitter” they chorused. “Yup, doing that as well” we responded. “Send emails out to schools and youth groups” they sang out. “WE DO THAT! ALL. THE. TIME.”

And therein may lie the crux of the matter. Young people often depend on adults and those in positions of authority to disseminate information on creative opportunities. Teachers, parents, leaders can become gatekeepers of sorts. They might inadvertently deny young people by failing to give out information or they may influence those in their care by their own attitudes. I have witnessed school and college-age students absorbing the attitude that certain artforms are ‘not for them’ simply from a teacher’s throwaway comment about ‘posh people’ going to see ballet and Shakespeare. On the flipside, we all witness how adults who are passionate about sports can engender the same passion in the youngsters in their care.

Perhaps the media have it all wrong. It is not the young people who are feckless and lazy after all. Sure, once they have learned that there may be something in the arts for them, then they will be able to take the initiative and search out opportunities for themselves, but they need to see the adults in their lives modelling a love of and involvement in the arts first. The schools and youth groups with whom Artrix has the strongest links are always those with an arts-passionate member of staff or leadership team.

In closing, I will share a piece of wisdom which I always keep in my heart whenever it seems that no one is engaging with my great schemes. I was asked once if I would ever go to see a football match. I laughed and said no. Would I go if it were free? Still no. Would anything ever encourage me to see a football match? Nope. Nothing at all. For some, this is how they feel about the arts and that’s OK. We’ll never engage or attract all the young people but we must keep trying so that they can make that choice.

TC Peppercorn is Education & Outreach Co-Ordinator at Artrix Arts Centre.
www.artrix.co.uk
@ArtrixArts