Archive for January, 2024

Creative Sparks 02.02.2024 – Rapid Change

Posted on: January 29th, 2024 by cyEditor

About our Artists

Oscar Rodriguez

Oscar Rodriguez (he/they) is a Salvadoran American poet and performance artist based in Kingston. Avid writer since childhood, his migration to London to study Creative Writing was a manifestation of resilience. Escaping from a doomsday group, their poetry reflects on trauma, religion, identity, and queerness. He collaborates with Writers Kingston frequently and in the past with Spotify Radar’s Shygirl collaboration. With their debut Sampson Low pamphlet, Mold, and performance at the National Gallery’s Lates in March 2024, he continues to use abstract to explain reality.

PIECE – Laced with intervals of sound poetry, MOLD: Live Hypnosis is a performance piece that will explore what it means, feels like, and is to fall into hypersexuality, from a queer lens.

 

Crusty

Crusty is a gender-bending, nasty little bastard with a voice of gold and a head of bald. Crusty strives to bring equal parts stupidity and commentary to their work, using humour and theatre to explore their trans identity. Actor, singer, idiot – Crust is a Must.

PIECE: A performance piece about the trans healthcare system in the UK, including a DIY top surgery.

 

 

Scarlett Stitt & Amitai Landau-Pope

Amitai Landau-Pope (he/him) writes and directs between London and New York. Scarlett Stitt (she/they) is an actor, theatremaker and interdisciplinary artist. As a collaboration, they are interested in bridging theatre and performance art, interrogating the limits of language and the body. They are recent graduates of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and RADA respectively.

Piece: A theatrical monologue from the perspective of a box of Celebrations.

 

Jayran Lear

Jayran Lear (she/her) is a theatre maker, arts facilitator, and performer based in Manchester and the North West. Inspired by mystics and storytellers of the Ancient World, she creates and tells tales that reflect the contemporary world and current political climate throug

h the lens of folklore and myths with: epic poems, movement and music. She highlights Middle-Eastern joy and centres her Iranian heritage in her work that serves as both an escapism and homecoming. Through art, she aims to build bridges and connectivity that transcends language, lived experience, and culture whilst celebrating it all!

PIECE: A cautionary tale about keeping yourself afloat whilst the tide rushes in through artistic mediums of short stories, epic poetry, and mystic dance.

 

Be sure to visit our the Creative Sparks event page to secure your tickets!

We have more upcoming talent being showcased at our Creative Sparks events every Friday this month, make sure to come along and see what else we have in store!

– 09 February 2024 (LIBERATION)

– 16 February 2024 (ANTI-VALENTINES)

– 23 February 2024 (CARE & HEALING)

The Year Ahead: Co-Director’s 2024 Update

Posted on: January 24th, 2024 by cyEditor

Co-Directors, Archie and Daniel, share some exciting updates for Creative Youth Charity in 2024 …

 

Kingston Borough Business Magazine – January 2024:

Archie and Daniel chatted to Sarah Dale, as part of the January edition of the Kingston Borough Business Magazine. They spoke about CY’s exciting plans for 2024 and the opening of our new multi-arts space FUSEBOX.

Click on the article preview image below OR CLICK HERE to view the full article featured in this month’s issue and gain a wider perspective on the future plans for the Charity.

Kingston Borough Business Awards 2024:

We are beyond thrilled to announce that we have been selected as a finalist in the Best Charity/Social Enterprise of the Year category for the Kingston Borough Business Awards 2024.

A huge thank you to the team and judges at Kingston Chamber of Commerce alongside the other fantastic organisations who are also nominated. We are looking forward to celebrating with you all at the awards ceremony in February.

Keep your fingers crossed! 

Stay tuned for more in 2024 … 

Get ready for a journey into the vibrant world of creativity as we usher in 2024 at Creative Youth and FUSEBOX!

We have such an exciting year ahead with numerous projects and opportunities for both our young people to engage with and our audiences to enjoy.

Brace yourselves for the triumphant return of FUSE International, showcasing an extraordinary and diverse array of artistry from around the globe right here in Kingston from 28 June to 7 July 2024. Be sure to stay tuned as we unveil our captivating program in the upcoming months—anticipation is building, and you won’t want to miss a beat!

But that’s not all — FUSEBOX is gearing up for an exhilarating lineup of its own, promising a whirlwind of excitement. For a sneak peek into the exciting performances and visual art that await, be sure to check out our “What’s On” page in the coming months.

Don’t miss out on the action — 2024 is set to be a year of unparalleled creativity and innovation! To be the first to know about any exciting plans and opportunities coming up in the future, please make sure to sign up to our mailing list by clicking here.

Archie and Daniel 🙂

Ongoing FUSEBOX Projects 2024

Posted on: January 15th, 2024 by cyEditor

Artist Heritage Project

Funded by the Foyle Foundation, this Creative Youth commission asked for artists to highlight the heritage that lies within FUSEBOX, including the Medieval Undercroft and the stone foundations of the Old Kingston Bridge.  The project aims to engage both local and wider communities in the history of Kingston, as well as inspire creativity and engagement within FUSEBOX and throughout the borough. 

Our selected artist is Steph Ward, a local artist who graduated from Kingston School of Art in 2019. Steph’s proposal for our heritage installation is to design and create a stained-glass window installation, illustrating the history of Crafts and Community in Kingston. This piece will then be installed permanently within FUSEBOX in Spring 2024, becoming a new architectural feature that generates discussions around community, heritage and creative inspiration within the space and throughout Kingston.

We are incredibly excited to be supporting Steph in the process of creating this stained-glass installation. With our Artist Heritage Project now officially underway, head to the project page to stay up to date with how FUSEBOX’s heritage installation progresses.

Community in Residence Programme: WOM Collective

This project is funded by The Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames Community Resilience Fund. Having identified a need for affordable spaces for creatives to come together and work with communities, we are launching our Community in Residence Programme in FUSEBOX, our new multi-arts venue on Kingston’s riverside.

WOM Collective are a grassroots organisation of London based female artists, passionate about inspiring and empowering each other and our communities. Over the years, the collective has proudly been a part of numerous community projects, touching the lives of children, teens, and adults alike. WOM Collective are committed to supporting communities and young people, and we are thrilled to be able to offer a creative and affordable space for them to organise workshops, experiment and develop future projects.

Creative Youth is looking forward to building relationships with WOM, whilst offering the collective support and advice in key areas such a fundraising and establishing connections within the borough. Known for their murals, paint jams and creative workshops, expect to see a wide variety of projects coming up over next year. Head to the project page to stay up to date on our new found collaboration.

AMPlify – Music (Episode 4)

Posted on: January 10th, 2024 by cyEditor

Today’s episode focuses AMP’s core theme of music. 

Jarek once again invites two guests of different generations to discuss how things have changed in the last 20 years and beyond. 

Since being involved in the very early years of Creative Youth in the late 2000s, Liam Cottrell has been on a musical journey that has seen him graduate from ‘man with guitar’ to festival DJ. 

Xander Allman-Varty is a young singer-songwriter who has regularly played Creative Youth events, and knows what it means for upcoming musicians to cut their teeth in today’s industry.

In a wide ranging and open discussion, Jarek, Liam and Xander cover the digitisation of music production, the impact of the streaming revolution on artists, and whether the loss of music venues is the tragedy it is often presented as. 

Listen to the episode on Spotify via the link below or by clicking here to view on our YouTube Channel.

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AMPLIFY is brought to you by Creative Youth with support from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.

Host: Jarek Zaba with Liam Cottrell and Xander Allman-Varty
Editing and Mixing: Jarek Zaba
Music: Mariia Yaremak
Artwork: Courtney Ellis

For more information on AMP please click here. 

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About Creative Youth Charity: Creative Youth aims to enable young people to realise their potential through the arts. We believe every young person has a right to access the arts and creativity and should be encouraged to take initiatives, risks and push boundaries in a safe, inclusive environment. ⁠⁠creativeyouthcharity.org

Upcoming Events at FUSEBOX 2024

Posted on: January 3rd, 2024 by cyEditor

Mindful Art Exhibition
17 – 26 January 2024

Since February 2023, Creative Youth has been collaborating with Mind in Kingston and Mind Richmond to run free weekly mindful art sessions at FUSEBOX for young people aged 12-25. We are delighted to now be sharing the culmination of artwork that has been produced by the young people that attend these sessions. This exhibition will run from Wednesday 17 – Friday 26 January 2024. Find out more about Mindful Art Sessions.

Kingston Art, Music, Pop Fashion 1960s – 1990s Exhibition
2 February – 27 March 2024

AMP Kingston is a National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) supported project, exploring and celebrating Kingston’s musical heritage from the 1960s – present day. Through a mix of oral histories, archive material and intergenerational community responses, this range of displays aims to connect the community to the rich cultural legacy of the area, and inspire and support the next generation of creatives. This exhibition will run from Friday 2 February – Wednesday 27 March, find out more.

Creative Sparks is returning in February 2024, with the opportunity to discover more exciting emerging creatives than ever before! Creative Sparks sees emerging artists from different backgrounds to take over FUSEBOX with music, visual art, theatre, comedy and more. With thanks to Arts Council England funding, Creative Youth is working closely with our panel of Young Creatives to produce 4 Creative Sparks evenings throughout February. These evenings will take place every Friday and follow a different theme each week.

Want to take part in our February Creative Sparks nights? Apply to our open call here (Deadline: Friday 12 January).

 

Related content

Applications open for FUSE International 2024

Take part in the UK's largest multi-arts festival for performers under 27!

Mindful Art Sessions – National Lottery Community Fund

Since February 2023, we've been facilitating regular art sessions for young people aged 12-25 in order to provide a space that allows for calm reflection in a relaxed and creative environment.

2023: A year of new adventures

Looking back on the year always makes us appreciate how many artists and young people have been involved in our journey throughout the year, but 2023 has certainly been a year of great change and development for the charity.