Over the course of three weekday evenings in autumn 2019, a global European financial institution hosted a programme of content aimed at 17 to 25-year-olds from some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in London. The programme was specifically developed to create access, familiarity, and ownership of one of the UK’s greatest arts institutions. The content centred on a high-profile exhibition, and ranged from career talks to soundscape workshops that were designed to position artistic practice and the creative sector as relevant to today’s youth, both for leisure and as a career.
The programme’s objectives were defined as follows:
In order to promote diversity in arts audiences and offer access to people who might typically find such institutions out of reach, the company sought to approach young people who identify as BAME or come from low-income households. Furthermore, in order to increase participants’ skillsets and interest in the arts, arts education, and creative careers, they would need to produce content that was engaging, interesting, and educational for this target audience.
Boster Group developed a pipeline of partners to support the company in achieving these objectives. They identified partners who could successfully target that audience, who were aligned with the objectives of the programme – in most cases, these organisations were devoted to causes including education, the arts, equal access to institutions, or developing opportunities for young people – and, crucially, whose reach did not overlap, increasing the efficiency of each partnership. Boster Group also sought partners who could provide detailed insight into the target audience and collaborate to create relevant content that was both interesting and educational. Finally, as this was the programme’s first iteration, Boster Group sought partners who could act as ambassadors for the programme, lending credibility in addition to content for the programme.
These evenings were the culmination of months of collaboration between the financial institution, the gallery, and Boster Group, and brought together 12 high-profile ambassadors, 90 new partners, and ultimately 3,320 young people to build their skillset, experience a featured artist’s work and participate in 15 careers-focussed workshops with professional creatives. The cost per head was just £17.89.
Major partners that ensured the success of this programme included a FTSE 100 tech company and secondary, higher, and further education institutions from across Greater London. The programme received a personal endorsement from Antony Gormley, a Turner Prize-winning sculptor, in addition to support from ambassadors including Usher, Sir David Adjaye, Yinka Shonibare, Susan Wokoma, Basma Kahlifa, Misan Harriman, and Kwame Kwei-Armah. The evenings also featured a digital art installation by artist Despoina Zachariadou and workshops with Born N Bread, Rachel Jones, and DJ AJ Kwame.
Crucially, the programme was built to address the key factors that influence access other than price. Boster Group worked closely with the partners they identified – which included charities, academic institutions, social clubs and organisations, local councils, and NGOs who targeted BAME and low-income youth – to map participants’ journeys to arts institutions and identify challenges. It became clear that students from some of the most deprived areas of London would need to have transportation provided for them, as public transportation could cost up to £8.40. Furthermore, many of the targeted participants did not have guaranteed access to an evening meal, especially if they arrived home after the activation was due to end. In an effort to ensure that no one would have to choose between Tube fare and a warm meal, Boster Group recommended that their client fund coaches to transport students from academic institutions and community locations to the art gallery and arrange for full catering – feeding 3,320 young people in a city where 9% of children sometimes or often go to bed hungry.
Over the course of these three evenings, surveys were given to quantitatively and qualitatively measure the audience’s experience, demographics, and source.
99% of attendees enjoyed the event, 97% would recommend it to others, and 91% felt the content was relevant.
The Net Promoter Score across the entire programme was 63, which exceeds sector-wide averages for the following visual arts audiences:
Average NPS for Galleries in London: 56
Average NPS for first time visual art audiences: 53
Average NPS for visual art audiences aged 16-24: 49
This programme gave 2,008 young people who had never visited this gallery before the opportunity to experience a prominent visual artist’s work in a setting which was inclusive and welcoming, surrounded by their peers. Not only did Boster Group’s client capture their target audience, the experience the client delivered far exceeded sector standards for that audience, ensuring long-term interest in not only the access programme, but in the arts more broadly, with an audience that typically reports having a poor experience and feeling excluded. This undeniably helps the financial institution to demonstrate its commitment to UN SDGs One, Two, Four, Ten, and Seventeen.
“I have been to so many events for young people over the years and I can honestly say this was one of the best for so many reasons.”
The programme’s success has led Boster Group to recommend raising targets for future activations for BAME (32%) and first-time (60%, or 50% for institutions which offer entry free at the point of access) audiences.
Another key takeaway from this activation was that a major hurdle to access and ownership over visual arts institutions was non-financial: a number of participants cited that they felt excluded from art galleries not because of the cost or atmosphere associated with it, but because they did not identify as visual artists. These participants were unanimous in adding that the programme they experienced changed their perceptions of who can or cannot interact with visual art; however, there was a clear sense that by integrating multiple disciplines into their content, art galleries can cultivate more diverse audiences.
“Personally, I wouldn’t normally go out of my way to go to an art gallery. But [now that I have been there, I realise] it’s another experience that can help me in other aspects… it can influence or inspire me to do something else.”
The success of this programme demonstrates that not only is partnership between for-profit and not-for-profit institutions, academic establishments, local governments, and third-sector organisations an efficient and effective way to scale social impact, it is also critical to demonstrating sustainable and compelling corporate responsibility results.
This project provided a unique insight into the challenges that young people face in accessing one of the nation’s greatest galleries. While these activations were successful in every measure, by working closely with existing partners and consistently seeking new ones, corporations looking to align their existing activities more closely with the UN SDGs can continue to identify and overcome these hurdles to create opportunities for participants to return to these institutions and feed their growing interest time after time. With its deep expertise in this area, Boster Group is well-positioned to identify and secure effective corporate, charitable, and academic partners to achieve the scale necessary to continue delivering successful results across Europe, APAC, and the Americas.
“The gallery can appear daunting, but this broke down all preconceptions.”