Community Producers

Paper Peace unearthed the history of peace activism with a new generation of 48 people from across the country aged 18 to 25 who received training from arts practitioners and museum experts in curatorial and event production, learning to interpret a variety of historical sources from the past century and connecting with peace building heritage in their local area. The Young Producers collaborated with professional artists to help realise their ideas and create a series of artworks that formed part of Paper Peace's finale event in autumn 2019.

Paper Peace was a year-long national arts and heritage programme. Created by Emergency Exit Arts, in association with national partners B Arts, Creative Scene, Ideas Test and Vivacity.

Paper Peace shed light on the legacy of peace treaties, the fragile nature of peace and the strength of the communities and individuals who work to sustain it. The project concluded with the spectacular show BLINK, a large-scale interactive installation that toured the UK in late 2019.

For BLINK, the Young Producers used their research to develop a commissioning brief, and selected local artists to build and fabricate their installation. All Young Producers moved from training into paid roles on the project, and many have since begun a career in the arts.

An exploration into race relations in the UK between the 1980’s and today using the Bernie Grant Archive. For this project we worked with a cohort of 18 people who explored themes of black activism, protest, power and identity. In response to their findings they produced a one day festival at Bernie Grant Arts Centre, including a carefully curated programme of live music, performance, film and art exhibition.

Name: Alanna Wells

EEA trainee programme attended: Creative Producer for Moon Festival 

How did the programme work: Once accepted onto the programme all Producers were invited to attend a welcome evening to learn more about the Moon Festival and meet the team from EEA. We then met at the EEA studio every Saturday to learn about programming and to discuss our ideas. All Producers were given a budget, and as my idea was to produce a dance piece, I had to negotiate a deal with an artist. I learnt the major aspects of putting on an event and having the joy of seeing this concept through to the event day.

What did you learn about yourself on this programme: From a young age, I have always known I wanted a career in the creative industries. From doing this programme I discovered exactly what I want to be doing for a living and learnt the skills to get me there.

What did you learn about the arts on this programme: I learnt that the arts can be seen in a variety of different contexts and how diverse it really is. Being on this programme it became even more clear how the arts are beneficial in life, and really have a way of bringing people together, creating experiences and making lasting memories.

What is a producer in your own words: A Producer takes a concept and can deliver this in a range of different media. This person is involved in the creative process within a project and co-ordinates ideas, people, and resources to turn an idea into reality.

What are you up to at the moment: Currently, I am completing my Master's degree at Kingston School of Art in Project Management for Creative Practitioners, with the hope to work on more creative projects and lead as a Producer or Project Manager. Alongside this, I am working for a touring theatre company as a Production Associate.

Favourite artistic experience of 2020/21: Despite the current pandemic and the uncertainty it has caused for the future of the arts my favourite artistic experience would be that I have been able to get back to hobbies I have not done in years such as painting and drawing. Lockdown has also given me the chance to expand and learn new skills like the piano.

Name: Catherine Oke

EEA trainee programme attended: TEMO TV – June 2020

How did the programme work: As the main bulk of the programme worked over the first lockdown, we decided to create a plan that would bring together the community of Thamesmead through a weekly TV broadcast. Having an array of different activities/talented people that showcased the talent within Thamesmead but also providing people with a source of comfort and entertainment during a difficult time. It was a chance to create something impactful during these times, that could be accessed digitally as opposed to other previous events that had been physical.

What did you learn about yourself on this programme: As this programme used to be in person, I still remember some vital things before we started planning our ideas, like how you assess yourself creatively, the importance of giving back to your community and what makes a good team. However, when we moved online, it taught me how important it is to rely on everyone and making sure that you keep up with your job role, as you have people relying on you – despite you relying on others. Think of it as being a whole engine, and if one part weren't working as hard as the others, you would notice.

What did you learn about the arts on this programme: On this programme, I learnt that the arts are flexible. By this I mean, yes, we were accustomed to when we heard the word EEA, we normally thought about outdoor arts. This, however, was not the case for our Trannie Producer season. We were able to bend our ideas to create something that showcased the community factor, the people who normally love to go outdoors; indoors and how they were remaining positive and creative. Just by bending our ideas a bit, it taught me that the arts are not confined to a box, it is for ever-changing and adapting to different situations that life throws at us.

What is a producer in your own words: In my opinion, a producer, is anyone who is given a task and is asked to carry it out. It doesn’t matter how experienced the person is, just that they are willing, wholeheartedly I must add, to carry it out to the best of their abilities.

What are you up to at the moment: I’m currently applying for foundation courses around London, does not sound like the most interesting thing but it’s definitely putting steps in stone for what I want to do in the future.

Favourite artistic experience of 2020/21: It was probably going to the Tate Modern for the first time! I know, 17 years of living and I have never been to the Tate. It was truly an amazing experience and everything there was so inspiring. It was the ‘How Art Became Active’ and I believe that it was an exhibition in light of the BLM protest, so it had a good amount of work from BAME background artists but also showing different ways of how art was no longer in the box of strictly being paint and a canvas, but statues and other mediums. I also got to see the ‘Ishi’s Light’ by Anish Kapoor, which was quite an achievement as I’ve only researched about him and never seen any of his work in person.

What are your hopes for the future of outdoor arts: I think one of the biggest hopes for the future of outdoor arts would be being part of festival production, but instead of the festival being something people attend. The festival would be brought to them one of those big floats you see doing parades. It sounds a bit out there, but with the current climate; I’m sure it would put a smile on people’s face – just by how out of the ordinary it would be.