When I started working at the Corner Collective part-time last year, the first thing I did was look at the space and wonder how we could utilise this gallery area for the community. I knew I wanted to work on a project where we could give back to the community in some way and I just had to figure out how we could do this. Speaking to Fark FK, the owner of the gallery, he felt intrigued to see what kind of project we could create.
Ideas Coming to Fruition
Back in early January, Portsmouth Creates announced a project funding application where businesses could apply from the Hornpipe Trust and I jumped at the chance to do this. We decided a project for young adults would bring a greater impact at this time as the Corner Collective predominantly works with street artists and young people seem to resonate a lot with street art.
We set to work and brought on board George Gallop to help us with the funding application process. Hearing back that we had been awarded funding was a brilliant first step.
Next Steps
Rolling up our sleeves and getting to work with George and Skills To Achieve was our next focus. We knew the age we wanted to work with and set out to build a rapport with the young adults that study at Skills To Achieve. Knowing these students had never spray painted by themselves before meant there was anxiety on our part as to how it would all work out but we had faith that between us we could create something lasting and worthwhile.
An 8-week project was set up that started in May. The idea was that we could bring 8 to 10 students on board and give them the inspiration and ideas to feel confident in their art, and work on a street art piece they could feel proud of.
I did lesson plans to cover the whole project and worked with Amanda Vowr on how to plan for young adults rather than young children I had been used to before. Then it was a case of handing it over to Fark Fk to deliver it. In the first session which was held at the Corner Collective, we saw 10 students that didn’t speak, they were very quiet. A lot of them had real struggles with social interaction and social situations. Fark FK has a way with young people, he knows how to make them laugh, and has a charismatic and positive approach to life. Being a social and larger-than-life character (kind of like his art), he found a way to connect and bring the best out of the young folk we had sat in front of us.
What we found over the 8 weeks is that all these young personalities came out of their shell. They made friend groups and by week 8, they had confidently and very successfully created their own street art piece that can be seen at Bransbury Park Cafe. Planning our time was crucial to the success of the student attendance and we had some weeks where we were gallery-based and others where we ventured out in Southsea, looking at street art and also playing around with spray paint.
Working Together
We are so grateful to Portsmouth Creates for the work they do in highlighting funding that can be achieved. They have supported the MY City My Voice project over the whole of this year, including helping with more funding to make the project a success. Ending with an exhibition of MY City MY Voice this weekend and allowing a platform to share work is a great round-up of the last 8 months of hard work from everyone involved.
Speaking to George Gallop of Soul Rebel Productions who has worked on community projects for many years, he said, “MY City MY Voice utilises the recognised creative and artistic forces in our community to empower and encourage Pompey young people to view their life and environs as part of a wider canvas.
This project was created to provide the community we share with opportunities, skills, facilities and homegrown resources to express themselves artistically and to showcase their spaces, their challenges and victories, and their hopes and aspirations.”
Ending on a High
You can head over to the Portsmouth Creates area at Victorious Festival from Friday to see what the students have created for the festival. Some of the students have grown so much in their confidence that they are actually working the Portsmouth Creates area by marshalling the site.
It’s a proud moment to watch these students grow in confidence and ability, see them flourish and know you have been a part of that. I love how they really enjoyed the project which ended in a day trip to Brighton and an exploration of street art there, guided by Fark FK.
My hope for the future of Portsmouth is that we invest in our youth and give them the tools to succeed and feel valued in the place where they live. One way of doing this is to create more community projects and give the youth of our city a place where they feel safe to express their creativity. I feel the MY City MY Voice project is the start of many.
Thanks to George, Fark Fk, Portsmouth Creates and Vik from Skills To Achieve for bringing all this together. A big thanks to Claire at Bransbury Park Cafe for giving us the space and trusting us with the art process.
