Young Pallant Artists in the spotlight in Chichester

And they are loving the experience.

YPAs are a group of artists aged 18-30 who meet weekly at Pallant House Gallery – young people who might, for whatever reason, face obstacles to their participation in art whether it be because of disability or mental health issues or perhaps isolation.

Alongside their own practice, the YPAs are encouraged to look at the gallery’s collection for inspiration. This year, the gallery invited them to curate a selection of its significant collection of screenprints for the Print Room. The exhibition explores the versatility of the popular printmaking medium and also offers fresh perspectives on the artworks.

For Kami, co-curation means “taking into consideration everyone’s ideas, strengths, stylistic preferences and identities in order to create an exhibition which is representative of everybody’s involvement in the project.”

Oliver added: “It involves a great deal of communication between the co-curators and an open-minded approach to receiving others’ ideas and how the art is interpreted by them. It works great when you share a creative vision for the project, but sometimes the best thing about co-curation is when the team have to find a compromise between each other. This is where you have a chance to see art in a different way than you previously did.”

Oliver added: “I’ve been involved with the project since the beginning. We met on a weekly basis and had some great conversations about the art we wanted to showcase. We then had an incredible opportunity to head behind the scenes with the curators and see some of the works we had selected up close in storage. This was something I really enjoyed as I felt like I was seeing a side of the Gallery that wasn’t available to everyone.”

Carleigh is loving the opportunity: “Art is important to me because I like to express the things I love and am passionate about.”

Oliver added: “Art is important to me because it’s a way to express myself in ways that words can’t touch. It’s a way to find the commonalities within the human experience. It helps me remember that there can be such beauty in the awareness of the experience of different aspects of life, either good or bad.”

All have you gained from the experience.

Hannah said: “I have gained new insights into the behind-the-scenes work of collections and exhibitions.”

Oliver added: “I think that it was an incredible experience. I gained a lot of insight into how things work behind the scenes at the gallery by getting to have some great conversations with the people who do this for a living. As well as the practical things that I learned, I also feel like I gained a better understanding of the other members of the YPA group and a better understanding of how art is experienced differently through the eyes of other people. We were able to compromise and also had the confidence to voice our opinions on our choices.”

Emily Robson, who is one of the gallery’s two community programme managers, is delighted at the way the group is progressing. It meets from 4.30 to 6pm on Thursdays mostly in term time and there are currently vacancies. If anyone wishes to become involved, then they should contact Emily at the gallery.