Urban Vision: Episode 1

21 June 2002 to 30 August 2002

Urban Vision is a unique youth arts and new media education project addressing social exclusion through working with artists and young people in an alternative creative learning environment – 198 Gallery, Brixton. Led by arts professionals with skills and knowledge in a variety of media, the project engages young people from a broad range of backgrounds, reflecting the cultural diversity of Lambeth and the surrounding boroughs.

Urban Vision dovetails with the exhibition programme in an integrated and holistic way. Current exhibitions provide the stimulus for educational activities with input from exhibiting artists. The participants have the opportunity to produce work for an Annual Urban Vision exhibition and take part in other artist-led projects such as LWT’s Whose London? film competition.

Many of the young people are referred from schools and other Lambeth agencies or come to 198 Gallery to pursue their creative interests and develop artistic and IT skills. Young people can experience social or emotional exclusion or find themselves under threat of exclusion from mainstream education; they may have English as a second language or have learning difficulties such as dyslexia; they may feel that they are unsure of their choices in life. Urban Vision provides them with access to the visual arts and new media in a creative, stimulating and safe environment. Others find the programme to be a varied outlet for their natural creativity. This programme gives them the opportunity to learn new skills in the visual arts and new media from arts professionals, possibly to take things further into a career in the arts. The programme offers hands-on experience of a wide range of art activities including photography, video and film and creative IT software.

The Urban Vision exhibition is the culmination of an academic year’s worth of artwork in various media produced by the young people participating in the project. The exhibition celebrates their considerable and wide-ranging creative achievements.