In the creative industry, people are vying for space everywhere trying to and make their mark on the industry. However, there are still many people who haven’t had the chance to go to university to be deemed to be given a chance, or even saw university as a viable option due to the sheer cost of course fees, not to mention maintenance loans with course fees at an all-time high standing at £27,750.

In Bristol, there is a scheme offered to over 16’s called “Bristol Scholars Scheme” which grants post 16’s access to university, however, this scheme is aimed at the more academic based university in the city as opposed the more creative driven. The scheme has also come under some scrutiny in 2017 when it offered a third of its places to private school students – almost completely defeating the object of the scheme in the first place. In the more localised areas of Bristol, graffiti is often seen as a creative vice and used as a viable option for those to make their voices heard in the area.

The integral part of the brief is to establish ways for young people who come from less affluent backgrounds to harness their creative abilities and give them a chance for new options.

To continue Ben’s proposal, this week I’m looking to find alternative ways that we can validate people’s creative work without them having to pursue higher education, as it’s not always viable or a path they want to take.

Last week as Ben presented the proposal, he showed us images of Bristol’s graffiti as an example of how the creatives within his area are currently expressing themselves outside of education. My immediate reaction to this was to try to give these forms of expression some sort of validation, by placing a literal frame around what they had created.

To grow on this idea, I began brain storming alternative ways which we could bring the feeling of validation to the creatives.

At one point, I was really leaning towards the idea of creating a show, created, stocked and ran by creative folk as a means for them to earn a living through their creativity. However, this idea could easily become just another place for hierarchy of what’s considered ‘good enough to buy’ and even result in damaging people’s confidence. It also suggests that validation is through others wanting to purchase your goods, which I don’t believe in.

So instead, I began to focus on the everyday creativity we’re surrounding by. The local florist, the baker, heck, even the candlestick maker. All of these people are using their own initiative to create something and whether they’re aware of it or not. They are creative.

However, most of these people tend to of got into these trades through pursuing hobbies, most of which don’t even make it past their front doors. They didn’t pursue higher education to gain creativity, they simply just created. So how do I give these talents the empowerment that a educational certificate would?

Research

Put a post out on social media earlier today to try and gather peoples stories and experiences they’ve had with the education system – here’s a pretty interesting response:

Post: I’m wanting to get a raise of (emoji) hands – how many of you wanted to or felt the need to pursue higher education to expand on your creative skills but wasn’t able to due to personal/financial reasons?

D – I’ve soon learnt that higher education isn’t everything and that all you need to succeed is a little passion, determination, creativity and patience.

S – That’s ace! What has your route been?

D – GCSE > WORK > ACCESS TO HE PHOTOGRAPHY DIPLOMA > WORK > FOUNDATION SPORTS DEGREE > WORK IN CONSTRUCTION > CITY & GUILDS GRADUATE SHIP FOR SENIOR MANAGERS > CITB LEVEL 1 IN BRICKING, CARPENTRY AND PLUMBING > OFF TO DO MY LEVEL 2 PLUMBING IN SEPTEMBER + GAS ENGINEERING STUFF TO BECOME FULLY QUALIFIED PLUMBER AND GAS ENGINEER.

Mate did a criminology degree, 4 years… Now works for British gas. Another friend masters in chemical engineering now has a sales office job.

S – Interesting how both you and your friend have landed completely different jobs to what you originally sought out to do, but your route has given you the chance to experience many different paths rather than just studying one subject for years.

D – …We can have a rough idea and plan in our head where we want to be and the direction to take then change our minds halfway through which is absolutely okay to do. We can have a rough plan then the opportunities don’t come up so we have to resort to plan A B and Z…

I think it’s good as you say to try different areas to get a feel for what you want to do, you also learn a lot about yourself in the process too

Proposal Solution – First Draft

My first draft was an extremely direct approach, just like I had first suggested I began placing literal frames over everyday creatives artworks. However I wasn’t entirely happy with this outcome.

Solution Proposal – Final Draft

This solution focuses on capturing close frames of everyday creativity. This aims to bring empowerment to those that simply create, with or without an education background with the hopes to challenge others to view their work and potential in the same light.

These frames would by displayed in public spaces (banners, galleries, public transport stations) alongside the basic information on the creative behind the work – this will almost act like a sort of ‘publishing’ of their work. This would hopefully assist with giving creatives a side project to work on in order to gain the experience/validation of a ‘legitimate’ piece of work that a lot of employers look for.

As well as highlighting and empowering these pieces of work, by publishing them I’m hoping this would give people the ‘can do’ attitude to produce something for themselves, if not for a career aspect, for the enjoyment of creating.