Young London Print Prize

Delivered by The Young London Print Prize

In 2022, the Foundation for Future London has awarded a grant to The Young London Print Prize for its project “Young London Print Prize” for people in Hackney, Newham, Tower Hamlets and Waltham Forest through our Medium Grant Scheme.

“Young London Print Prize” will work with 244 young artists in Newham and Tower Hamlets to inspire and showcase their creative skills on a London-wide programme exploring the concept of climate art.

The Medium Grant Scheme is part of our Westfield East Bank Creative Futures Fund, funded by Westfield Stratford City.

The project meets two of our scheme’s key themes,  Learning Opportunities and Young People.

In 2022, we are working with 241 young artists in Newham and Tower Hamlets to inspire and showcase their creative skills on a London-wide programme exploring the concept of climate art.

These young people take part in a competition that develops their confidence, motivation and creative expression. It does this through a four-stage programme:

 The first stage focuses on capacity-building: co-designing the programme with teachers and enhancing the skills of those teachers as artists and educators.
 The second stage is all about delivery: going into schools and working directly with Years 5 and 6 at primary level (pupils aged 10 and 11) to prompt their submissions to the Prize.
 The third stage involves convening a panel of young curators: Year 10 students (aged 17) who spend time learning about careers in contemporary art and then judging every entry.
 The fourth and final stage is called celebrate and advocate: we announce and exhibit the winners at Woolwich Contemporary Print Fair and bring together influencers and activists to shape and challenge current policy and practice.

In this way, we aim to change the context within which young people create as well as supporting individual young artists. Arts education in schools across London remains under huge pressure. There is clear need, strong demand and very little provision. State schools in low income neighbourhoods now routinely have no budget at all for arts education.

So there is an urgent need to get alongside the incredible work that teachers and practitioners are doing with minimal support to nurture artistic talent in East London and to change the subsequent reality of the contemporary art world across the whole city, which remains largely dominated by a single class and gender.

While the art world is slowly diversifying, this change now has to be embraced at every level. And the process starts, as ever, at the grassroots.

The Young London Print Prize works with Years 5 and 6 in primary schools and Year 12 in secondary schools.

To take part, please email matt@woolwichprintfair.com.

For more information, see woolwichprintfair.com/young-london-print-prize

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