How to engage young people in arts and culture

The artistic landscape is changing. Across the country, budgetary pressures and the demands of career-focussed choices mean that we may be facing a generation of young people who have never experienced art at school or anywhere else. Charities and funders are both looking at the best ways to help young people experience and enjoy arts and culture.

We’ve been working with arts charities, across a full range of artistic styles, to understand what works in engaging young people in the arts. Our analysis of the published literature, data, interviews with practitioners and our conversations with young people themselves have shed light on best practice and challenged conventional wisdom.

For an overview of our key findings and recommendations, read our summary below:

We chatted about our findings with Jillian Barker, Director of Learning and Participation at the Royal Opera House, Tina Ramdeen, Head of Youth Policy and Engagement at Roundhouse, and Rachel, young trustee at Roundhouse.

Listen to the conversation below:

We are grateful to the Mohn Westlake foundation for funding this research.