Wakefield Museums and Castles: Wakefield: Where We Are...

Image showing light painted letters spelling out the words "Wakefield" and "Our Journey"

About Wakefield: Where We Are...

We've been on an amazing journey with a group of 14 young people, from across the Wakefield district, in the Wakefield: Where We Are... project.

The project was a joint initiative between Wakefield Museums & Castles, The Youth Association and the British Museum.

We wanted to give young people in our district an opportunity to engage with arts and culture and create a project that meant something to them.

The project aimed to remove some of the barriers to engaging with culture that young people might face.

Go behind the scenes of the project in their 'Our Journey' video - featuring music by Fernando, one of the participants!

A collage of six images showing young people taking part in different activities, including ceramics, photography and screen printing

14 young people, aged 16 to 25, joined our project in September 2023.

Over four months, they tried different activities and practices, run by artists and experts.

This included ceramics and printing sessions at The Art House in Wakefield, a behind-the-scenes tour of Wakefield Museums & Castles' collections store, and photography and light painting sessions with Nick Singleton.

The sessions offered a chance to try something new and see what sparked an interest.

Image of a young woman making a clay pot and smoothing out the sides of the pot with a sponge

The participants also took part in a drama workshop to help them find their voices and grow their confidence.

They had lots of conservations about community, home, family, and what culture means to them.

They shared their own experiences with one another and made new friendships.

The participants also got the chance to visit the British Museum in London, exploring the galleries and exhibitions, and meeting participants from our sister-project in Swindon.

They explored the galleries through trails focusing on colonialism, and love and desire, and had a go at curating their own mini exhibition.

To celebrate the Where We Are... project, the young people have helped to curate a new display in the atrium of Wakefield One.

The display showcases some of the artworks created by the young people during the project and celebrates the journey they went on together.

You can see the display in Wakefield One (the building that houses Wakefield Museum) until August 2024.

Meet our participants

Click the participants' photos to find out more about them.

What the participants have said:

The project has had a positive impact on the participants who have gained confidence, learned new skills and made new friendships.

"I learnt how every object in the museum has a story, I thought that was cool”

"I learnt that there are lots of interesting things in the museum. I thought it was boring, but no, it was really interactive and I enjoyed that part. And you can learn a lot of stuff."

"I found out that there are lots of different ways to make art and everyone can find a way to express themselves"

"I think we all have some kind of motivation but sometimes we don't know how to find it. At the beginning of this session, I didn't know what to do, but with time it became easier. So I have learnt that we just have to try to find our own motivation"