SPOTLIGHT ON - QUEER YOUTH ART COLLECTIVE
We recently collaborated with the online & in person youth group, Queer Youth Art Collective. Together we have created a limited edition shirt which will be available throughout June - We also took the time to ask them a few questions about what they do and what they have planned.. Read the interview below
Can you tell me a bit about Queer Youth Art Collective and your ethos?
Queer Youth Art Collective (QYAC) is a free, weekly space for LGBTQIA+ people aged 18-28 can come and learn about and to make art. You can join in person in London or from anywhere in the world over ZOOM. It is a space for social connections with like minded people, and/or for development of your artistic practice. We aim to be available to as many people as possible, this means you never have to book a space, you are always free to drop in when you can/want to come. We also try to support our members making outside of the space, so all members have access to £50 per term that goes towards whatever materials they are interested in exploring.
When you started out QYAC, what did you want to achieve? And in what way have you evolved?
Back in 2019 the main goal was to find out what young queer people in London actually wanted. We had noticed that there were plenty of youth collectives and programmes run by big institutions in London, but none of it was LGBTQIA+ specific. But when COVID struck the programme got taken online via ZOOM thanks to support from Homotopia in Liverpool and The outside project here in London. All of a sudden we had people joining from all over the country. So since lockdowns eased up and everyone was going back to meeting in person and online events kinda died down, we decided to maintain our ZOOM space, so that we could be open to whoever wanted to join from all over the UK and even other countries. So we started thinking very locally in London, but now we are working more on reaching outside, making sure as many people as possible are aware of our services.
Do you feel that QYAC has faced any challenges navigating and progressing?
Yes, haha! We are a very young organisation, so challenges come naturally when you are trying to grow something.
All of the people that work with us are very passionate about arts education, and making it as accessible as possible. Something that happened during COVID was how we had to rethink how we selected who was given paid commissions and who were not. It included an external judging panel and people sent in short proposals for workshop plans. Being judged, and told whether or not your work is worthy was something that did not feel right. Even though most of us as freelancing creatives are very used to it, we struggled to figure out how we could still maintain our relationship as support rather than selecting members and placing them above the rest. The solution to this has been to scrap all selection panels, and that all paid opportunities are selected with a random lottery, no proposal needed beforehand. If you get selected we help members decide what they want to do with the commission, not the other way around. It has helped us solidify our stance that everyone deserves to have a go. And the same goes for events like exhibitions where we do open calls, and everyone that submits work will be accepted into the show.
Are there any exciting QYAC projects coming up that others can get involved with?
We are currently planning our next big group show, which is a year away. So if you are a queer person aged 18-28, and are looking for opportunities to exhibit your art, come along to one of our Sunday sessions. With the current algorithm climate on social media it is getting harder and harder to reach new people, so please share us on social media. Tell your local pride organisations about us, or if you know of anyone who would appreciate coming to our weekly sessions, get them to email us!
And finally, are there any creatives, charities, or organisations you feel our followers would like to know about?
Homotopia (Liverpool) and Curious Arts (Newcastle) are organisations we have partnered with in the past 2 years. They both do amazing work in maintaining an LGBTQIA+ presence in the arts. And here in London people should look into The Outside Project, as without their support through the years, we would not be here today.
Thanks so much for your time, it’s been a real pleasure! Check out Queer Youth Art Collective’s work - https://qyac.org.uk/
You can shop our Pride campaign together- https://www.weareprintsocial.com/queer-youth-art-collective
