MADE believes that knowledge about the kinds of careers you can find in the arts should be an essential part of every school’s careers programme. With this in mind, we brought together our experts on Youth Voice and Employability to begin building a leadership programme that would introduce young people aged 14+ to the arts & culture venues on their doorstep. Over 6 months, they will be hosted by 6 different venues and meet the inspirational people running them.
We were so excited to be hosted by Contact Theatre this week for a crash course in presentation skills and spoken word poetry! The day kicked off with a tour by Laura, Contacts Head of Creative Engagement, who spoke to them about her journey into the role and answered all the questions they had.
Maya, our project manager and Lizi, a MADE trustee, led our young people in exploring leadership through using the voice and body language. They learned a range of vocal exercises, practiced projecting their voice and did a ‘Silly Sells’ pitch- convincing the group to invest in their items which including plug sockets and washing up!
This week was a good opportunity for the group to have discussions about what leadership means to them. They began to break down the stereotypes surrounding leadership and explore the importance of active listening and allowing people the space to voice their thoughts.
They then enjoyed a beautiful workshop which was facilitated by spoken word artist Georgie Brooke, who helped them play around with these ideas through spoken word. They learned some brilliant tools to use to develop poetry, generating independent work, then feeding into a group piece.
Together they wrote this beautiful poem:
I am everyone’s first time living
I am the space between people’s words
I am the faith in your leap
I am the bridge to your success
I am the warmth from the harsh chaos outside
I am the stillness in the eye of the storm
You are the light at the end of the tunnel
As we head into the last phase of the project, we’ll be visiting the Whitworth Art Gallery!
