Present in the Moment is a public art project that celebrates the creativity of children and young people within their respective communities, improving their wellbeing and increasing their cultural capital.

It is an artist and young people-led public art programme in the London Borough of Lambeth. Working collaboratively with up to 50 local young people from across three schools, the project will manifest into three artistic interventions within the public realm of Streatham, Vauxhall and Brixton. The artistic outputs will be a mixture of installation, exhibition, performance and / or community participation event depending on the creative practice of the artist engaged.

We want the project to celebrate the creative resourcefulness of Lambeth’s young people, provide mentoring and training opportunities, and inspire the public to engage with art on a deeper level whilst enhancing the physical spaces where people live, work and study.

The project has been designed to support existing place-based priorities, engage with a range of creative practice, and develop ELEVATE aims in partnership with Lin Kam Art.

The Projects:

Brixton: Artist Laurie Fitzgerald with students from Lansdowne School creating a living plant / painted interactive sensory artwork with a QR code to facilitate public engagement. Laurie will facilitate mindfulness and urban gardening workshops as part of a wider public engagement offer.

Vauxhall: Students from Lilian Baylis School will be working with actor and community theatre facilitator Tereza Araujo. Tereza will deliver theatre skills workshops with students and work with them to develop a series of happenings to engage the public. We will also collaborate with Somos Lambeth in mind, enabling ELEVATE to celebrate the creativity and culture of Portuguese students, and share learning and engagement across the Somos network.

Streatham: Artist Maya Campbell will be working with students from Bishop Thomas Grant school in Streatham to create a photography exhibition and short film. Maya will lead workshops with students on photography, film and editing, some of which will be showcased at the Streatham Festival.

ELEVATE is Lambeth’s mission to open the creative, cultural and digital sector (CDI) to all Young People (YP) in the borough. Driven by the Business Culture and Investment team (BCI) at Lambeth Council (LBL) -We have fostered inclusive practice through commissioning or co-commissioning work with creative organisations within and beyond Lambeth to build resilient communities, raise YP’s wellbeing and self-esteem, unlock potential, and bolster the skills pipeline.

ELEVATE Education is driven by Lambeth’s Cultural Education Partnership (LCEP) that is setting in motion a cultural education strategy for the borough where ‘Present in the Moment’ will serve to bring visibility to this work and develop a new way of working that brings school communities closer to the cultural sector.

Lin Kam Art
Artist and educator Linett Kamala is Producer for Present in the Moment and Founding Director of Lin Kam Art which enriches lives through festival culture via residencies, workshops, events and programmes. For over 30 years, Linett has been championing community arts, including curating wellbeing events in the U.K., South Africa and Jamaica.