What difference can an artist make?

So it's summertime again (well, English summer time). Today I went to the Free Range art & design show to see my friend Mandosa's end of year project. I've been to a few of these recently. Haven't been to many performancy shows this year, but I think it's really important to support your mates, especially when the event is celebrating the end of something. I've got some great friends who always for up at gigs, and the least I can do is show my face at theirs. I couldn't stay very long but my eye was caught by two very cool artists, Isabel Albert's photography and Fenia Moskou's graphic design (which kept getting stolen!)

It's been a year since I finished university and it still feels like yesterday. If I'm totally honest, I'm still getting comfortable with the whole full-time freelance thing. Over the last few months I've been involved in more project were I have leading responsibility or creative direction. People are asking 'what do you think, Yemisi?', and then actions are being made of my words. It's exciting but scary at the same time. What if it goes wrong? What if I'm wrong? But better to be wrong than miss out on a chance of being right, right?

The London Literature Festival is coming up again, and I'm working with a team of young curators who have a show on July 10th (see you there). They're a brilliant bunch of young creatives, interested in spoken word, music, politics, design, directing and more. My role as creative mentor is to guide and advise them through the journey of producing their event, which is a pre-show for a Benjamin Zephaniah gig. (Side note: Last Thursday we had a skype call with Benjamin. Yes, Benjamin Zephaniah. I was really excited).

Anyway, one of the ways I'm managing the responsibility is to ask for advice and not be to quick in making decisions. We'll see if it's working.

There's another project I'll be working on in the next few weeks called In Between, can't wait to start. Four writers (Aoife Mannix, Joe Coehlo, myself and Sarah Butler) have a residency with the arts org All Change. We've been able to pick our group of participants and the project will be creatively addressing these questions.

What difference can an artist make for the communities they work with?

Can artists effect real and lasting change within communities and for individuals, and what is the nature and importance of this change?

Can artists and communities genuinely collaborate to create high quality work, and what does this process mean for all the participants involved?

At first I was a little overwhelmed by the open brief but I've now come to a decision. I'll be working with a group of 14-19 year olds, exploring themes of fate and destiny. I'm thinking that some kind of collaboration with an illustrator would be a good end product, but I open to other things. A theme in a lot of my work so far has been 'teenage', especially in transition. Whether it be caused by a tragic incident or just through growing up, I'm really interested with how young men and women become adult. Whatever adult is. I'll let you know how it goes.

Bye!