European Social Fund in England

Young people of Birmingham become apprentice artists thanks to gallery 37

For four weeks every summer Birmingham's Centenary Square is filled with hundreds of young people and vast pagoda tents. And what for? To learn from the Professionals at 'Gallery 37'.

Based on a model first launched in Chicago, Gallery 37 has been running since 1998. The key aims are to provide people between the ages of 16 to 24 and often from challenging backgrounds, the opportunity to work alongside professional artists and gain accreditation towards Art and Design and Key Skills qualifications.

To date over 1000 young people, known as Apprentice Artists have benefited from the project and each year between 80 and 90% progress onto further / higher education or employment.

Effective partnerships are fundamental to the success of Gallery 37. The project works in close collaboration with many of the city's leading arts and educational organisations to develop the content and structure of the programme. In addition, a network of over 280 recruitment partners across the city helps to ensure that hard to reach groups of young people are aware of and able to access the project. These range from colleges and universities including Newman College, Stourbridge College, South Birmingham College, UCE, City College, to other organisations such as Crush Music, The Drum, The Ikon Gallery, The Birmingham Rep and Royal Ballet.

Pat Dixon, Gallery 37 Co-ordinator explains: "Gallery 37 is the only project of it's kind in the UK. In Birmingham, thanks to ESF funding, it meets the need to engage young people from the city in creative activities which excite and inspire them, enabling them to take advantage of the opportunities which exist and supporting their efforts to learn and progress into education and employment. The money provided by ESF is helping to change the lives of many socially excluded young people who previously saw no viable path out of what are often very challenging situations."