envision

The context

The organisation

Milton Keynes Gallery provides free access to high quality, innovative and thought-provoking contemporary art from around the world. In its programme Milton Keynes Gallery stimulates participation and debate, building relationships between artists and audiences

Milton Keynes Gallery is a ‘programme-led’ organisation.  Underpinning Milton Keynes Gal-lery’s activities is the quality, integrity and significance of its artistic programme. The pro-gramme is active, dynamic and changing.  The programme is informed primarily by the prevalent ideas existing within the production and reception of contemporary visual art na-tionally and internationally, the audience we serve and the unique context of Milton Keynes within which we are placed.
Milton Keynes Gallery presents 6-8 exhibitions a year. It’s gallery programme focuses largely (though not exclusively) on solo exhibitions by a broad range of national and international artists, emerging, mid career and well established.  A number of programme strands run through the gallery’s activities and across the year and can be articulated in themes and ideas such as; architecture and the built environment, politics and identity, design and craft.  The programme also introduces debate about more formal concerns of contemporary art practice engaging current ideas in sculpture, film, painting and photography.
Today, the gallery aspires to produce the majority of its exhibitions in house and to work collaboratively with national and international organisations on the production and tour of exhibitions. The publication of catalogues and critical writing on contemporary art attracts artists of international note and is an essential advocacy tool for the gallery to stand out in an international market.

•    Partners and funders
Arts Council South East, Milton Keynes Council, English Partnerships, Milton Keynes Theatre and Gallery Company. Also supported by various Corporate Patrons (who prefer to stay anonymous)

•    Number of staff and annual turnover
22 Staff members
Annually
expenditure= £942,581
income= £916,924

Website: Milton Keynes Gallery

The situation

Young People’s Project Background
Over the last five years Milton Keynes Gallery has been extremely successful in engaging young people aged 6-14 in its education programme.  Many are now reaching GCSE age and have ex-pressed their interest in maintaining links with the gallery after this time.  Through our consultation process (2006) we learnt that there are many young people in the area interested in contemporary art but feeling disconnected with the gallery’s activities to date.  By developing the young people’s project the gallery will be discovering new ways to make that connection requested by the young people themselves.

In the MK Borough there will be a 9% increase in the number of school age children between 2004 and 2011, climbing to 39,000 in 2011.  The young adults in the borough are expected to increase in number from 21,810 in 2004 to 25,860 in 2011, an increase of 19%.  This percentage increase is much larger than that expected in England as a whole, of 8%.  Between 2001 and 2031 the national increase in this age group is expected to be 4%.  In Milton Keynes, the increase is forecast to be 54%.(Info from MK Council’s “Population Bulletin 04/05”)

With such a significant increase in the youth population of MK, Milton Keynes Gallery looks to work with this age group and involve them in the activities of the gallery in a much more inclusive man-ner.  In addition we will be building an enthusiastic future audience, encouraging young people to stay in MK for higher education, sending a positive experience of Milton Keynes Gallery out with those leaving for university and encouraging return to the city at a later date.  In turn this will not only send out a positive message about the gallery but about MK as a young, vibrant, enthusiastic creative city in which to live.

Consultation Background
In 2006 Milton Keynes Gallery launched a project to work with young people (15-24yrs) to develop a peer-led programme offering opportunities and challenges to explore, create, debate and initiate cultural pro-jects and events.  From February to August a group of young people worked with artists Mark Gubb and nobleandsilver to create two films exploring what it’s like to be a young person in MK and tackled various subjects like lifestyle, culture, relationships and locality.  This process formed an introduction to working with the gallery and gave gallery staff at the opportunity to consult with young people on what provisions they wanted.

After a stage of application and interviews, a steering group of 8 young people was recruited to man-age the programme offering live events, projects, commissions, workshops and courses for their peers.  At this stage it is important that the Steering Committee consult with a wider group of young people across MK regarding the groups needs including identifying those currently missed by the activities to date.  Suggestions:  NCH Homes, Independent Schools, PRU’s, Unemployed Young People, young people with disabilities. Consultation will be an important ongoing process for the group.

The idea

The original idea was for the young people’s group to consult with a range of ‘hard to reach young people from around MK to get an idea about who they are and what things are important to them. They chose to do this by providing a workshop that would be exciting and accessible for a group of people that may not necessarily be easy to appeal to. So the key was choosing young and fresh artists that had a ‘cool factor’ and would be able to communicate with young people first and foremost.

The project

Planning

A sub-group from the Young People’s Steering Committee met on a number of occasions to discuss details of the project. The planning and all of the above was done by them with support from Education staff at the gallery. The artists were chosen as some of the young people knew of them and thought they would have the ‘cool factor’ stated above. It was also important to them that the artists had worked with young people of this age group before and had experience in this field. These questions were put to the artists at a meeting prior to the final decision being made. The young people’s group discussed at length who they wanted to consult with and felt it was important to involve teenagers who wouldn’t have had contact with the gallery and might not know who we are and what we do.

Delivery

Venue:
The workshops would take place over 3 days (29, 30 and 31 May 07) at MADCAP (a multi-use arts and theatre space in Wolverton).
Participants:
- 5 Young people aged 16-18 involved in the ‘Entry to Employment’ course at MK College. These participants are not currently in education, employment or training of any kind.
- 5 Young Carers located through MK Play Association
- Workshops will be staffed by either Victoria or Nyla from the gallery, as well as Yaw from the En-try to Employment course.
- Young people from the Steering Committee will also participate in the sessions to be on an equal par with other participants.

Artists:
Participants will work artists Katy Howkins and ‘The Urbanist’.
Katy’s is an artist working in Cornwall. She works primarily in installation, looking at ideas around do-mesticity, space and how we occupy it. Her work often involves the use of text. The Urbanist grew up in MK and developed a reputation as a graffiti artist. After working for the Kids Company in London and self training in air brushing techniques, he now customises clothing for a living.

Plan:
Participants will be encouraged to work with Katy on the first day, looking at creating texts about their interests, lifestyle, and wishes, and how these might have changed from the past and how they anticipate they might change in the future. They will look at poetry and various texts that Katy brings, looking at ways to adapt and change what is written to create new and personal stories. The first day will be about team building and getting to know each other, with Katy and The Urbanist making presentations about who they are and their work. The second and third day will focus on creating imagery to go along side ideas generated from work with Katy, which will be transformed into customised cloth-ng with the help of The Urbanist. Each participant will have one on one time with The Urbanist to look at designs and techniques in air brushing. They will each have an item of clothing to customise with ideas about who they are and who they want to be in the future.

Outcomes

Impact on participants

IMPORTANT BIT
Some participants (all 3 from the Entry to Employment course) were extremely enthusiastic about the work that they did in the sessions, some describing it as the ‘only thing they have done in a long time that they have enjoyed and been happy doing’. This resulted in us using some of our budget to plan for a further 3 days training for them with The Urbanist, and to showcase these skills to other young people at a local youth festival MK4U. This continuing involvement has lead to some of the participants (in particular 1) attending other activities at the gallery, and simply dropping into the gallery when he passes by. This is a huge accomplishment for the gallery and the group as prior to the workshops these young people had never been to the gallery, and expressed negative ideas and opinions about the gallery and work we do. These negative ideas about the gallery were expressed when they visited the gallery during the second day of the workshop and made comments to staff about the art that was shown being ‘not real art’ and the gallery showing work that ‘they could make themselves’. They also showed in their behaviour a desire to be out of the gallery as quickly as possible as they were keen to leave the building.  This opinion might not have changed in the sense that these young people now think that the gallery shows fantastic work, but they have certainly shown more of a willingness to be involved with the organisation, this we can see through their eagerness to attend other activities, and by dropping into the gallery when they are in the area. It was felt that this shift in opinion (or level of involvement) from the young people was nurtured by having a connection with people at the gallery (members of young peoples group and gallery staff) rather than any real shift in their beliefs they had before. In other words – they now come to the gallery and are interested because they know people here and want to continue that relationship rather than because they think the art is really good. Inevitably they see and are exposed to contemporary art on their visits so slowly their opinions may shift we hope.    

Impact on others involved

Many of the young people commented that they took away with them more of a sense of what young people in the city might want from then as a group. (You can see this in the sec-ond part of the DVD).  

Institutional change

The young peoples group hopes to consult with the 3 participants from the ETE course in future activity. They also invite these young people to attend and help out with their events and meeting now. So far a few of these young people have attended the MK4U festival that the group part organised.
•    We will have worked with appropriate partner organisations. (Measurement:  Partner organisa-tions aims meet with the aims and needs of the Young Person’s Steering Committee).
We worked with MK College through their Entry to Employment course, and MK Play Association through their Young Carers programme. The aims of these groups are to enrich the lives of young people from difficult backgrounds – these aims met with the young peoples group’s requirements.

•    Consulted with a number ‘hard-to-reach’ young people through partner organisations.
The consultations reached 5 young people.

•    We have achieved a neutral environment
The workshop happened in MADCAP which Is a neutral performing arts venue.
    (Young People are comfortable in space – Body Language)
The young people were comfortable in this space and took it on as their own. This can be seen from their body language in the DVD, and relaxed atmosphere where participants felt free to pick up a football and play around with this for a while.
    (It is being used by young people on a voluntary basis)
This venue is used on a regular basis by many young people across the city.
    (Ask them how they feel)
We relied on body language rather than questioning to indicate this.
•    Commissioned artists
2 artists were commissioned.

•    Activity will have taken place that has been developed and planned by the young people.
Planning was done by young peoples group, and only supported by gallery staff. Artists and venue were chosen by young people etc.

•    The young people from disadvantaged backgrounds return and feel listened to and under-stood.
    (Capture information during and after the event.)
This is evident from their willingness to return to the gallery. Some participants commented dur-ing the session to gallery staff that the workshop was great for them as they felt happy and re-laxed, which they hadn’t felt for a long time.

•    More young people involved and aware of the Young People’s Programme (Upwards of 60 who are already on our mailing list)
3 participants are actively more involved in the groups activities.

Lessons learned

What worked and what didn’t

Identify up to five key things that the project got right (even if they seem obvious, like ‘showing the young participants that their ideas were being taken seriously’).  
1. The artists that were chosen were very well suited to appeal to the participants (this was a success of the young peoples project as it was an example of them knowing better than gallery staff what young people would want)
2. The space that we used was big and well suited to the groups needs, we were able to really take ownership of it.
3. We budgeted in a way that allowed us to adapt the plan, and so were able to provide 3 of the really enthusiastic participants with 3 extra days training with the urbanist. This showed them that we wanted to and are willing to invest in them as people. These 3 participants have now attended and presented at the envision evaluation training session, and we are now in discussions with them about them presenting at an event at MK’s new stadium that showcases exciting projects in the city and will be attended by (HRH) The Queen.  

Identify practical ideas (including some of the things done in sessions that were particularly successful).  
1. An activity that was lead by Katy Howkins. She brought in different texts from various places (poems, newspaper, funny cards) and gave them out and got individuals to use the text and cut bits out and erase other bits to make a new text that was relevant and interesting to their lives. Participants did not like the sound of this activity at the beginning as it re-quire an element of sensitivity and thought, but once they got started they produced some touching texts that really said a lot about themselves.
2. Having video cameras available during the workshops allowing us to film and participants to film also.  
Identify things that didn’t work in hindsight, mistaken assumptions, missed opportunities and any other things that need to be taken into account.
1.    The aim was to have 5 participants from the Entry to Employment course and the Young Carers. In actual fact 3 young people attended from the Entry to Employment course (all 3 days), and 1 person attended from the Young Carer’s (last 2 days, bringing 1 friend with him for the last day). We anticipated that attendance would be a problem due to the nature of the people we were trying to involve and the fact that they were not involved on a compulsory basis. We did however find that this group size was better suited for the sessions as each person took longer than it was anticipated to create their clothing, and if we had had more participants all of them may not have been able to go home with a finished piece.
2.    On the last day one participant invited his friend to attend the final day which meant that they bypassed the prior work and simply made their clothing. This ended up taking up a large amount of The Urbanist’s time, and took time away from other participants. It also meant that people from the Steering Committee were not able to make any clothing which they were a little disappointed at, especially as they had participated in the activities.
3.    Some of the young people from the Steering Committee couldn’t make it on the first day of the workshop, this posed a problem as they arrived later in the workshops when the group were already formed and the new faces may have been a little confusing for participants.
4.    It wasn’t made clear to the staff from MADCAP about the nature of the workshops, and this meant that at some points during the 3 days we had people coming into the space and viewing it to book it at a later date. On one occasion an outside party started to take pictures in the space while the group was working. They were asked to leave and at this point it was ex-plained to staff that this was unacceptable. The group may have felt extremely uncomfortable by this.

Next steps

The DVD produced will provide a basis for the young peoples group and Milton Keynes Gallery to get a picture of who hard to reach young people are in Mk and how we might be more accessible to them. The fact that it is familiar and approachable people rather than types of events that are put on that will make an organisation more accessible are very important and will be noted in the way that we go about building relationships with our audiences (both young and old)

Appendix

7    Statistical information for envision’s Grants for the Arts Activity Report
7.1    Where did your project take place?
Did your activity happen in a specific place (or places)?
    a    Your activity happened in a specific place (or places)
If your activity happened in a particular place, please give us the address and postcode of
where most of your activity took place.  
Full address
     MADCAP Performing Arts Centre
Creed Street,
Wolverton
Milton Keynes

Full postcode    M    K    1    2        5    L    Y

If the place where your activity happened does not have an address (for example, it was in a park), please tell us where it took place and give us the name of the lo-cal authority area instead.
 

Other places where your activity happened
If your activity happened in other places, please give us the postcodes of each place.  If any of the places do not have a postcode, please give us the name of the local authority area instead. We have made space for you to give details of up to five other places.  Please use a separate sheet if you need more and write ‘See attachment’ on the first line below.

Full postcode or local authority area:  (Gallery) MK9 3QA    
Full postcode or local authority area:      
Full postcode or local authority area:      
Full postcode or local authority area:      
Full postcode or local authority area:      

If you have filled in part a, go to question 3. If part a is not relevant to your activity, please fill in part b.

    b    Your activity was not specific to a place
If your activity was not specific to a place, please give details. (For example, ‘This activity happened across a wide area or across a region’, ‘This activity took place on the internet’ or ‘We produced a publication’.)

     

7.2        How many people do you estimate benefited from the activity?
Please give an estimate for your activity.

‘Taking part’ means doing the activity. ‘Audience’ includes people going to an exhibition or performance, and people getting access to work that is printed, recorded, broadcast or on the internet.

This activity    Number
    
Artists    2
    
Others taking part       5  
    
Audience     4500
(MK4U Festival)  

7.3        What are the age ranges of the people who benefited from your activity? Mark all relevant boxes.
    
     
 All age ranges
    
 
 Children under five
    
 
 Children (five to 11)
    
 
 Young people (12 to 15)
    
 
 Young people (16 to 19)
    
     
 Young people (20 to 24)
    
     
 Adults (25 to 64)
    
     
 Adults (65 and over)

7.4    Was your activity directed at, or particularly relevant to, any of the following groups of people? Please mark any relevant boxes.
    
     
 Disabled people
    
     
 People at risk of ‘social exclusion’ (not being able to take part fully in society because of, for example, poverty, prejudice or isolation)
    
    
     
 Asian or Asian British (includes Bangladeshi, Indian, Pakistani
 or any other Asian background)
    
    
     
 Black or Black British (includes African, Caribbean)
    
     
 Chinese
    
     
 Any other ethnic group
 (Please describe below in no more than 10 words.)
    
      

7.5    Please give details of the results of your activity.

This activity    Number
    
Number of performance or exhibition days    2
    
Number of new products or commissions*

       6  
    1
Period of employment for artists (in days)       1  
    
Number of sessions for education, training or taking part. ‘Taking part’ means doing the activity (Divide the day into three sessions - morning, afternoon and evening. A ‘session’ is any one of, or part of one of, these. For ex-ample, a half-day education workshop would be one ses-sion.)