Young art lovers host festival for 10,000 people
30 Sep 2019
A public engagement story from our gallery in the park – tell us your story or ask to get involved
Young art lovers hosted a festival for 10,000 people at our Whitworth Art Gallery, gaining skills and confidence as well as making a difference to their communities.
The Whitworth Young Contemporaries worked with two emerging artists to host an ambitious WARP Festival of over 100 performances, workshops and activities over a weekend. It attracted 10,000 people, with 6,000 young people attending the Saturday events alone.
Whitworth Young Contemporaries is a programme developed by and for young people aged 11-24 years, based at the Whitworth.
A core group of twenty 16-24 year olds from diverse backgrounds meet weekly to plan and deliver a programme of workshops and creative events with a social conscience. From gallery takeovers to creative play and panel discussions, their aim is to make a difference by connecting art, ideas and communities.
There’s also a weekly drop-in After School Club, which sets young people a making challenge or provides a place for them to do their own imaginative projects.
As well as being a place to socialise, it’s a platform to develop life skills and showcase creativity and ideas.
“Since the arrival of our new Director, Alistair Hudson in February 2018, the Whitworth has been rethinking its purpose in our city’s ecology, a position that very much doesn’t see art as separate from everyday life,” explains Ed Watts, Head of Learning and Engagement at the Whitworth.
“In fact it’s quite the opposite, the Whitworth is a place that seeks to create a participatory democracy for people to come together and explore new ways of living with attitude, opinions and spirit. Put simply, our mission is to use art for social change.”
Our University, awarded the National Co-ordinating Centre for Public Engagement’s Gold Watermark, is celebrating ten years of public engagement.
Now we’re taking up the challenge of playing a leading role as a civic university, as well as addressing key national and international agendas, such as the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Our vision includes creating a more permissive engagement culture; developing more inclusive practices; co-creating innovative approaches and working in partnership with more diverse audiences to help realise our University’s strategy for social responsibility, research and discovery, and teaching and learning.
For this we need our staff and students to get involved – tell us your engagement stories or, if you haven’t tried it yet and want to, let us know.
You too can share, inspire and involve our community partners and public audiences in Manchester, across the country and around the globe.
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