Creative Youth Announces Year-long Support For Three Emerging Artists

Arts charity Creative Youth can today announce the three young artists it will support this year as part of its Creative Talent Programme, which offers artform-specific industry mentoring, business and strategic support and £2000 to develop a piece of creative work. This year, the programme's focus is artists making work in the fields of film and visual arts.

The Creative Talent Programme was launched in 2009 to identify young and emerging artists and companies who have the potential to become excellent creative practitioners and give them the artistic, business and strategic support to become flourishing, challenging, exciting organisations of the future. Although Creative Youth is based in Kingston-upon-Thames, applicants for the programme can be based anywhere in the UK and there has been a particular focus in recent years to encourage participants from outside London to apply.

Previous Creative Talent Programme companies/artists have included award-winning puppetry company Smoking Apples, theatre company Dumbshow, What is Written Dance, and Circus Suburbia.

This year, the Creative Talent scheme will support the following artists:

· Writer, filmmaker and actor Scar Ward, who specialises in writing for young people and explores disability, dysfunctional families, and queer themes in their work.

· Jordy Deelight who creates performance-based work for theatre and television, looking at identity and persona in the art of drag and exploring themes of disability, gender and mental health in autobiographical theatre.

· Photographer Chiyana Ankhrah whose work is focused on challenging and destabilising Eurocentric beauty standards by uplifting and empowering Black women who have been historically left out of the fashion and beauty industries while addressing and challenging stereotypes around Black mental health.

Speaking about the Creative Talent Programme, CEO of Creative Youth Louise Coles said "As we know young people and young artists have been particularly hit hard by the pandemic, through unemployment, mental health issues and subsequently many feeling a loss of a sense of purpose, so it has been important for us at Creative Youth to ensure we have remained "open for business" providing the much needed stability and support during this time - our Creative Talent programme has been and continues to be a key part of this mission."

whatshisface theatre company, who were a Creative Talent Programme Company in 2020-21 said "The Creative Talent Programme has helped us navigate through a very difficult period and their support couldn't have come at a better time. I really admire what Creative Youth do, which is put their artists first. Really recommend this for any artist looking to broaden their networks and strengthen their body of work, all with a bespoke mentorship."

Creative Youth is a charity based in Kingston-upon-Thames that exists to enable young people aged 5 - 26 to realise their potential through the arts, involving them in innovative, original and ambitious projects. Projects include the International Youth Arts Festival, a young people's skills development programme and a forthcoming heritage project AMP Kingston; Art, Music and Pop Fashion.