Our unique blend of social justice and art workshops has engaged young people and motivated them to express their ideas and emotions through the arts. We’ve overcome many challenges by working in some of the most impoverished and volatile communities in the world. Our ability to reach out to local stakeholders and work closely with them has allowed us to successfully complete projects with no delays and on budget.
Workshop participants, Johannesburg, South Africa
The reason for our success is a straightforward theory of change that resonates with all communities. When young people are exposed to different views expressed through art, given a space to explore those ideas, and offered the agency to articulate their own thoughts and feelings through art, this provides them with the confidence to act as agents of change in their own societies. They take part in building a better future for themselves and their communities.
Our public art projects stem from workshops that educate and involve young people from different communities on a range of social issues. Local educators and artists lead our workshops: young people are engaged in meaningful discussions with artists and educators who help participants to visualise and express and visualise their thoughts and concerns for their local communities. The result is a giant work of art that becomes part of the fabric and history of the neighbourhoods where we work.
We film every aspect of the process and present it in short videos on social media or as long-form documentary films.
Youth mentor Efe Ezekiel with workshop participants, Hackney, East London, 2020
Efe Ezekiel with workshop participants, Wapping, East London, 2020
A workshop participant in Wapping, East London, 2020
Kenyan street-artist msale with workshop participants, Nairobi, 2021
Workshop participants painting the Human Development Centre in Kawangware, Nairobi, 2021
Workshop participants, Nairobi, 2021
Workshop participants painting outside, Poplar, East London, 2019
Outdoor workshop at the “Cops-n-Kids” fair in Harlem, New York, 2016
Paint the Change film crew with workshop participants in Harlem, New York, 2016
Youth activists for a Paint the Change campaign in Brazil, 2015
Street artists and activists promoting Paint the Change at a street fair in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2015