Five questions with... Euella Jackson, Rising Arts Agency

1. Can you tell us about Rising Arts Agency and what your role as Engagement Producer entails?

Rising Arts Agency is an epic, dynamic, incredible beast of an organisation, based in Bristol. We’re a small (yet mighty) social enterprise and creative agency for underrepresented young creatives aged 16 – 30 in the South West. 

We were founded officially in 2016 by Kamina Walton as a result of conversations she was having with young people about the challenges they were facing. We’re a cool community of young creatives and our work is political - changing the way we see, think and talk about young people and decision-making. Fundamentally, it’s about youth leadership, access to the arts and creating social change. 

My role as Engagement Producer is to nurture Rising’s community of creatives through training, commissioning opportunities and talent development. I co-lead a programme with Kamina called OnBoard, that recruits, trains and supports young people on to the boards of cultural organisations in the South West. We’re determined to make the arts more accessible, bringing more young people into Rising (and ultimately into the conversation) and promoting young people as leaders. 

I often joke though, that my job is less about making young people ready for the world, and more about making the world ready for us!

2. In July, Rising launched the #WhoseFuture campaign to amplify the voices of young artists and creatives across Bristol. Can you tell us about the campaign and what it achieved?

Whose Future was an insane billboard and social media campaign that took over the streets of Bristol for 4 weeks between July and August. It came out of an unexpected partnership with Rising, Bristol City Council and Out of Hand that took advantage of the fact that advertising space in the city wasn’t being used during lockdown. It allowed us to radically reimagine public space and we did our best to turn Bristol into our radical gallery space.

It was definitely one of the most ambitious things Rising has ever done. 370+ billboard and poster sites filled with the artwork of 37 young artists from our community with A LOT to say - and all done in 3 weeks. #WhoseFuture covered four themes - Black Lives Matter, Climate Justice, Access and Wellbeing. We were really driven by the killing of George Floyd and wanted to help our community turn to creativity in times of crisis and to tell the sector and the city - that we are TIRED. 

#WhoseFuture was Rising’s opportunity to platform the incredible young talent in our community; to ask difficult, provocative questions of our city; and to take ownership of public space in a time when young people’s voices are being ignored. 

3. Do you think Black women face particular challenges in the cultural sector, and how can these be overcome?

Black women definitely face particular challenges in the cultural sector; feelings of isolation, being underestimated, tokenised, facing a lack of representation so feeling like you have to represent every person of colour (POC) who’s ever walked this planet - just to name a few. It can be extremely draining because it can feel like your work isn’t valued if it isn’t centred around your difference – which can affect your self-esteem. People don’t realise the emotional labour that’s involved or the resilience you need to have to be able to survive in this sector as a woman of colour. 

I’ve found Black women networks integral to my journey, as well as having allies who will advocate for me when I’m not in the room. I’m lucky that my job at Rising is about cultivating community among my peers – making sure none of us feel left behind. 

We need to create spaces for more Black women to lead – like properly lead – because then we will start to change the feel and form of leadership in a way that is more accessible, shared and inclusive. The answers shouldn’t rest on people of colour – this has to be a shared responsibility. 

For goodness sake, we do not need yet another diversity panel. What the sector needs is embedded, strategic and funded work around diversifying organisations, teams, productions and audiences. We need commitment to doing things differently. Meaningful community-building and nurturing new leadership should be at the heart of everything we do moving forward. 

4. The OnBoard programme helps cultural organisations recruit, train and support a skilled young trustee on to their board. Can you tell us more about the initiative and the transformative impact it can have on an organisation?

OnBoard is our attempt to share our learning and practice with the rest of the sector. We support organisations to meaningfully bring diverse young people into the strategic levels of organisations – to enrich, broaden and inspire the way things are done. OnBoard operates in cohorts. We feel it’s part of our responsibility to create new networks between organisations and young creative people. 

We practice what we preach and model a form of inclusive leadership that embeds the voices of young people at every level of Rising – from our branding, bid writing and programme design, to our commissioning. 

• 2 out of our three Directors are under 25 years old
• Our board members are all under 26 years old
• The core team at Rising are 31 and under (except for Kamina)

From September, we’ve begun our exciting 12-month leadership transition, where myself and another young member of the team, Jess Bunyan, will become the co-directors of Rising. 

Since 2018, we’ve been able to support 22 young people on to boards – and counting! A shift is happening. Organisations are starting to think more about young people and governance and pay attention to young people’s crucial role in activism and creating social change. We love to see it – but there’s so much work that needs to be done!      

5. Is there any work by female artists that really excites you?

Everything the young women in Rising’s community are doing – they inspire me on a daily basis!