Exploring Vauxhall – 03/05/17Giving young people a voice through creativity

Between February and April 2017, around 50 young people from the Vauxhall area have been working alongside creative practitioners to get inspired by the local area’s fast moving regeneration programme. ‘Exploring Vauxhall’ is an exciting new initiative funded by Lambeth Council, comprised of three distinct creative projects that have been developed in dialogue with some of the developers and investors who are working to improve the area over the next ten years. The project is part of Cultivate, a creative learning programme for children and young people initiated by Enable L&C for Wandsworth council.

Exploring Vauxhall shares the Cultivate aims to explore ideas about place-making in the changing urban environment and encourage young people living in Vauxhall and Wandsworth to engage in the creative process and embrace the opportunities that come with change. It guides young people to find out more about local arts, culture and place-making and through doing so, be inspired by the range of work and study routes in the creative industries. Through this Lambeth Council wants to help ensure that local young people reach their full potential.

Three groups of students or young people were matched with a creative professional and participated in a series of sessions observing spaces, making art and learning about different creative and place-making roles. The young participants shared their work with the rest of their school or organisation at individual sharing events, attended by supporting developers and representatives from Lambeth. The projects were:

St Anne’s Primary with creative practitioner Vicky Long and Transport for LondonArtist and erstwhile Arctic explorer, Vicky Long, is based at Vauxhall Community Gardens Studios and has been working with the student council at St Anne’s Primary to explore and creatively respond to the redevelopment of the gyratory by Transport for London.

Roots and Shoots with creative practitioner Danielle McIlven and Developer CLSTheatre director, Danielle McIlven, worked with a group of young people aged 16+ from the Roots & Shoots horticultural training centre to explore and respond imaginatively to their local environment using physical performance and Parkour, with support from by local investor CLS.

Wyvil Primary with creative practitioner Harriet Smith and Developer Mt AnvilVisual sociologist and artist, Harriet Smith, worked with Yr 4 pupils at Wyvil Primary to explore how we share our urban spaces with animals, during the school’s Science Week, focusing on the peregrine falcons who inhabit the site of the new Keybridge development from Mount Anvil.

These three projects helped young people living in Vauxhall feel a sense of ownership and pride in the past, present, and future of their area, by creatively exploring ideas about place-making in their changing urban environment. They discovered more about their local area, and enjoyed looking at familiar places in a new way.

“I found out that there were falcons next door. I enjoyed it because I never knew about that.” (Yr 4 Student at Wyvil primary)

“I enjoyed when we were on the expedition and then when we shared our findings afterwards – it really helped me to think about what I saw.” (Student Council Member, St Anne’s Primary)

“I enjoyed doing the ninja moves because I got to climb walls.” (Young Participant, Roots and Shoots)

The projects were all artist-led, which resulted in a wide range of experiential activities. Through their involvement young participants had first-hand experience of local arts, culture and place-making opportunities, and widened their knowledge of work and study routes in the creative industries.

“I was proud of me being creative and doing things I have never thought I will do” (Yr 4 Student at Wyvil primary)

“This project made us think about what being an artist is really about, not just being a painter, but thinking really hard about the way they want to express something.” (Student Council Members, St Anne’s Primary)

“I thought about theatre and my future success.” (Young Participant, Roots and Shoots)

“I saw a real progression in the children’s enjoyment of sketching. By the third session, they were instinctively opening their sketch books to sketch something that had interested them. Discussions about the different ways that artists work also supported this and they began to be more confident in their own style. They also really moved on in the way they recorded their ideas taking inspiration from the way Vicky worked on her boards.” (Siobhan Phelan, Deputy Head, St Anne’s Primary)

“I found working on this project hugely enjoyable. I haven’t worked in a school before and have benefitted from this learning experience. Exploring the local area I came to know it better and I was also able to engage with local stakeholders: St. Anne’s School, TfL, Lambeth Council and forge relationships there.” (Vicky Long, local Artist)

The project also supports the London Enterprise Panel’s London Ambitions recommendation that every child should have at 100 hours of ‘experience of the world of work’ during their school lives, by giving the young participants experiences they will be able to count this towards their total.

About CultivateExploring Vauxhall is a new iteration of a project which took place in Wandsworth between May and July 2016, one of a series coordinated through Cultivate, a creative learning programme for children and young people. Part of A New Direction (AND)’s London Cultural Education Challenge, Cultivate is an initiative of Enable L&C for Wandsworth Council and supports the Nine Elms and Vauxhall Partnership’s regeneration programme. Cultivate acts as a bridge between schools and the cultural

opportunities being created through the Nine Elms/Vauxhall area, by co-ordinating and commissioning a range of exciting projects.

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Notes to editors:

For more information about Cultivatewww.cultivate.londonContact ana.ospina@flowassociates.com or 07732 787 423

For more information about London Ambitionshttps://lep.london/publication/london-ambitions-careers-offer

About A New DirectionA New Direction is London’s flagship cultural education agency, helping London create, think and learn. We work to ensure that all children and young people get the most out of London’s extraordinary creative and cultural offer. Through our partnerships, we create positive change across schools, education and communities to ensure that young people get the most out of London’s extraordinary creative and cultural offer.www.anewdirection.org.uk

About Enable Leisure & CultureEnable enriches lives and strengthens communities through leisure and culture.

Enable Leisure & Culture is a company limited by guarantee, applying for charitable status and is partner to Wandsworth Council’s commitment to deliver first class leisure and culture services. As a Public Service Mutual, it is a form of social enterprise that manages and delivers the arts, bereavement services, parks, sports facilities, events, the film office, public halls and Putney School of Art and Design across Wandsworth on behalf of Wandsworth Council.

For further information visit www.enablelc.orgFor the latest updates and news follow us on twitter @enablelc

Images to accompany press release attached and file names/image credits below.

Left-Right - All images by Stephen Wright Photography.Left - File name: stephen-wright-photography-danielle-mcilven-21Description: Participants from Roots and Shoots take part in a Parkour workshop as part of Danielle McIlven’s projectCentre - File name: stephen-wright-photography-exploring-vauxhall-harriet-smith-11Description: Pupils at Wyvil Primary have a visit from a peregrine falcon as part of Harriet Smith’s projectRight - File name: stephen-wright-photography-exploring-vauxhall-vicky-long-8Description: Pupils from the student council at St Anne’s Primary explore the Vauxhall Gyratory as part of Vicky Long’s project