Artichoke works all over the UK producing free art events, but our home is in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets.

Taking part in the arts supports young people’s education, wellbeing and employability.

However, not all young people have access to the arts, and children from low-income families are three times less likely to engage in extracurricular arts activities.

These activities are vital in helping young people stay engaged in the arts, develop important creative and social skills, and work together as a team.

For each edition of Lumiere, Learning & Participation activities are integrated into the artistic programme, touching lives and leaving a legacy of skills and newfound creativity. Over the last twelve years, our producers and artists have worked with over 12,000 local people.

Lumiere also invites anyone over 18 to submit their brightest ideas for light artworks as part of the BRILLIANT national commissioning scheme. Those who are successful are supported in producing the works exhibited as part of the artistic programme, alongside work by internationally renowned artists.

Other opportunities for participation include volunteering to help visitors have the best experience of Lumiere and several apprenticeships are available to those wanting to take the first steps to developing a career in events production. 

The Gallery is the UK’s biggest public exhibition, with artworks displayed on thousands of digital screens and billboards in over 30 towns and cities in the UK. The Gallery sets out to nurture and develop artists at all levels, giving them a platform and guidance on producing art in the public realm.

Throughout the seasons, the Learning & Participation programme has been engaging young people nationwide through workshops and our Schools Resource Pack. The programme highlights the power of art in public space and provides inspiration and guidance the young people to create their own public artwork.

In Season 2, we worked with Welsh community artists, Becca + Clare to create their artwork, What We Do. The work was made in collaboration with a group of young people from The Trinity Centre Arts Club who have experienced, or are experiencing, the asylum system. The photograph depicted a domestic scene constructed entirely out of cardboard, representing the fragility and transitional state of the migrant experience.

Babylon Gamelan was an exhibition of joyful sound sculptures and interactive installations, held at Bedworth Miners’ Welfare Park, largely inspired and made by the local community. 

Through hands-on workshops, participants contributed to the design and creation of three smaller noise-making installations which were exhibited alongside The Babylon Gamelan. These sculptures were co-created by artist Spencer Jenkins and local community groups, making each piece a collaborative work of art rooted in Bedworth’s rich industrial history. 

We also ran workshops with artist Julia Snowdin to create elements of The Percussive Trail. The trail pieces featured instruments made with the help of over 300 community members and schoolchildren.

Just as all the artworks in the project were made from recycled materials and found objects, many elements were donated back to the schools that took part and local charities.

HERD was a ground-breaking collaboration between artists, musicians and hundreds of schoolchildren and community members. Our aim for HERD was to ensure that all corners of Kirklees were part of the project. We engaged more than 2,000 young people who took part in a range of activities.

These included writing lyrics and recording soundscapes for the sheep, learning songs to perform at the HERD finale, creating textiles that were incorporated into the fleece of the sheep, graffiti workshops to participate in the HERD inspired mural and visiting several schools across Kirklees with Kindra, the young sheep.

On 16 July 2023, 311 performers took part in the final performance, including 60 young people from primary schools and youth choirs involved through the L&P programme.

We focused the paid positions on long term unemployed who used the opportunity to up-skill and those who had been severely impacted by Covid.

412 participants from local schools and community groups took part in workshops to create designs that would be displayed in the final wooden structure. These workshops were not only an opportunity to be creative, but it allowed people to come together to talk about how they had been impacted through Covid.

Sanctuary was a project for the whole community, bringing people together after the isolation of lockdown and providing the opportunity to build skills, connections and confidence.