Arts Council of Wales responds to report on youth arts in Wales
Commissioned last year, the joint effort between NYAW and YANC has been published, outlining the plans for developing the Youth Arts sector with increased involvement from young people
In November 2020, a joint letter from National Youth Arts Wales (NYAW) and Youth Arts Network Cymru (YANC) was submitted to Arts Council of Wales (ACW) outlining fundamental concerns for the future of the youth arts sector in Wales; predominantly surrounding the devastating consequences of Covid-19 on young people and the arts sector.
It highlighted the historic lack of resource for youth arts, the impact of the pandemic on young people’s wellbeing and future aspirations for careers in the arts, plus the lack of voice that young people have had so far in the discourse during the pandemic.
Commissioned by Arts Council Wales in 2021, National Youth Arts Wales teamed up with Youth Arts Network Cymru (YANC) to undertake a series of online consultation sessions with young people, youth arts organisations, and practitioners to determine the viability and need for a youth forum in Wales and consultation on future of youth arts lottery funding.
Below is a summary of the report, following its publication by Arts Council Wales.
To read the full report on the Arts Council Wales website, click here. To read the Easy Read report, click here.
What young people want
There was a general agreement that both Arts Council of Wales and Welsh Government need to do more to take the needs of young people more seriously and place them higher on the agenda, such as listening to young people, fostering better connections that place young people at the centre of work, and more flexible and unrestricted funding for projects with young people.
Participants talked about wanting a network for young people to connect and collaborate with one another as well as supporting their engagement and careers in the arts through support, information and resources.
Network and youth voice representation
Simply put, people said they wanted an arts network for young people that would aid their ability to meet and work with each other. The purpose of this network would be to help young people to work collaboratively, get information about the arts and connect with art organisations within Wales, get help with funding and applications and to help kickstart careers in the arts.
Suggestions were also made around increasing funding and support for YANC. A strengthened YANC, with strengthened partnerships with arts and community organisations across Wales could work with young people, organisations and ACW to develop such a network.
It was recognised that creating such a network is a big undertaking, but should be made by young people rather than for young people, with the opportunity for online and in-person engagement. It was also recognised that the network should be accessible and inclusive for young people from all communities across Wales, with different access points for young people at varying points of their journey within the arts.
The network must also be available bilingually and ensure that young people wanting to seek opportunities, support or connections through the Welsh language are able to do so through equal representation in Welsh.
Durting the sessions discussing an expansion of youth voice representation, there were several ideas discussed that would give young people the platform to be authentically listened to by ACW, without putting the onus on them to fix all the problems.
A youth collective that meets to discuss ongoing issues was discussed, and the collective would be able to lean on ACW, whilst also echoing the structures of Cardiff Youth Council, Welsh Youth Parliament or Westminster’s Youth Parliament.
Points were also raised about the importance of this collective or group having real agency to influence decisions.
Other suggestions included placing two young people on the Arts Council itself, and developing a skills and training programme that invests in young people from across Wales.
Funding for youth arts
The overarching opinion is that the current model presents significant barriers for many young people, in addition to restrictions found by organisations aiming to run projects in more flexible and responsive ways.
There were several calls to remove the jargon and difficult wording of application bids, and re-examine the wording used and the requirements in place to submit ideas.
There were also calls to ensure that funding mentoring is a requirement for offering the funding in the first place.
There were young artists in the sessions who commented on how much they benefitted from the advice and guidance from the organisations that they are involved with when writing applications, but there were also clear calls for a wider support from Arts Council Wales. Importantly, this wider support needs to be accessible to those who perhaps don’t have those pre-existing networks, through training days and guidance on how to apply.
Arts Council Wales does offer information on applying for funding in large print, Braille, audio, Easy Read and British Sign Language, but there are D/deaf artists who are not aware of this, or what alternatives there may be to help with applications.
It has been suggested that visibility of access support should be increased, and that video applications should be considered.
What happens next?
What young people want to happen in the next 3 months
For this report to be publicised in English and Welsh, with additional social media support and paid advertising
Videos to be made from young people in the arts responding to the report
What young people want to happen in the next 6 months
Dialogue between Arts Council Wales and arts organisations on how to start the youth arts network
An increase in bilingual events with young people
Use the events to increase support for young people to work with Arts Council Wales
What young people want to happen in the next 1 to 2 years
Direct funding for youth arts that’s accessible by young people
Simple application forms with no jargon and simplified language
Arts organisations to collaborate bilingually to create a network for youth arts, supported by Arts Council Wales
Two young peolpe to be invited to join Arts Council Wales
Training programmes and facilities for young people to lead in the arts sector
For more information on Arts Council Wales visit their website.