Congratulations to the Lighthouse Young Creatives 2023/24 cohort!
Here are some highlights from our Artistic Director and CEO Alli Beddoe’s speech from the live sharing at BLOOM.
"Huge congratulations to the The LYC cohort of 2024: Amber, Billiejo, Taby, Vivian, Jake, Lottie/Allium, Maia, Nadiira, Ava, Shifa & Jacob.
We developed Lighthouse Young Creatives (LYC) in 2018 for young people aged between 16 and 25 and this weekend marked the completion of our third series. LYC is a six- month talent development programme designed with the young people for young people.
They are the ones who stand at the foot of the mountain, the mountain that we all encounter at some point in our lives. It is that complicated point when you start thinking about leaving education and looking for work prospects as well as finding your voice, your identity and your people.
For me, 30 years ago (!) the paths to take were not obvious and there was definitely no map to tell me how to navigate it.
These days, it’s much bigger, steeper and slippery. Many services available in the past have been suspended, decreased or cut, with greater demand for the support that remains.
Lighthouse Young Creatives exists because the systems that are in place for people in this age group are broken. Gaining access to in-person expertise is difficult, as is finding creative spaces where young people can meet, discuss and share their work. This in turn limits their ability to tap into new networks, meet potential collaborators and progress their projects and career aspirations. Young people without financial security also find it much harder to take on unpaid work experience or to access the resources and time required to build an independent creative practice. As a result, they are largely under-represented in many areas of the city’s creative communities and workforce, making those industries less inclusive and accessible. And we wanted to find a solution.
We know that art sits within our entire being, it is what makes us human. It makes sense of things and tells our stories in no other way. Art is powerful. It helps us to communicate our loves, our grief, our struggles and our joy. Music, film, photography, poems, building new worlds in new technology helps us to make sense of the world we live in. After all, it’s what we all turned to in 2020 when we were living in a world that forced us into total isolation.
Ultimately though, it also helps us to occupy jobs and careers in ways that no other skill can do.
For this programme we’ve delivered:
• 6 months of weekly sessions with mentors
• 5 x Open Sessions
• 4 x Creative Masterclasses
• 4 x mentor masterclasses
• 6 x business sessions with our sponsors
• 1 x cultural trip
• 6 x paid commissions of photography, promo trailers, and sound workshop facilitation
• And an exceptional showcase of projects & performances for BLOOM held at Phoenix Art Space
Welcome to the future. A new chapter begins. We’re at the start of beautiful journeys. Supporting artists at their very inception, this is only the beginning."
MANY THANKS TO:
The expert mentors working with the group every week: Sarah Brownlow Lead Mentor & expert in photography, Callum Johnston - Filmmaking mentor - who is a director, producer & runs Crawley Film Institute, Maf’J Alvarez - Digital media mentor - Creative technologist & immersive media artist, Abraham Moughrabi - Music mentor - bringing all the knowledge of production, running a venue and making beautiful sounds.
Specialists who ran masterclasses: Emma Frankland, Ivan Weiss, Inko Ai Takita, Kassia Zermon
People who provided space: AudioActive’s Bottega Rooms, The MET, Rose Hill & Phoenix Art Space
Those who’ve documented our work: Nuria Castro and Phoebe Wingrove
Our sponsors who have provided cash & invaluable business mentorship: Brandwatch, Brilliant Noise, Storythings & Baxter & Bailey and MPB, who have supplied us with top of the range camera equipment, most of the work in the showcase wouldn’t have been possible without this.
Audience Feedback
"Loved the range of art and experiences. Love that a lot of it focuses on less mainstream topics and experimental art form."
"Amazing to see so much collaboration between the artists across the projects."
"It was a great and intriguing experience, full of thought provoking and emotional pieces."
"Diverse perspectives. Voices given to those that may not have had the opportunity otherwise."
I loved it! There was a real buzz of excitement and talent in the room and it was joyful to see and hear about the journey of these talented young artists.
About Lighthouse Young Creatives
Lighthouse Young Creatives is a personal and professional development scheme for young people in Brighton & Hove aged 16-25 who aspire to work in the creative industries but face exclusion through lack of access and barriers to participation.
First launched in 2018, the scheme equips participants with the skills, confidence and connections they need to enhance their employability, entrepreneurship and future career prospects through a six-month programme of production skills training, business development support, mentoring, showcasing and networking.
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