National Portrait Gallery Showcases Young People's Ideas

Young people in London have been exploring their ideas about regeneration, homes, schools, streets and safety through a project run jointly by CABE and the National Portrait Gallery, London.

The My Space project has led to an exhibition, on at the gallery until 3 February 2008, that aims to show how creative involvement with the local built environment can tackle disadvantage and social exclusion.

The project began as a partnership between the gallery and CABE's education team, which identified three youth groups in the London boroughs of Camden, Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

Over the summer, these young people, aged 12 to 21, worked with professional architects, textile specialists, photographers, DJs and spray artists to create both site-specific work and individual artworks for displayed in the exhibition.

Nancy O'Brien, CABE's head of education, said: 'The My Space project highlights the importance of educating young people about the built environment and the role which they have to play in shaping the places around them.

Through creative learning, they have been able to consider the ways in which buildings and spaces affect their everyday lives.

The project is particularly significant for the young people whose local environment is changing.'

In Tower Hamlets, a group of students from the St Paul's Way Community School worked with spray artists to create large-scale portraits in their school grounds.