Tuesday 5 September 2017

Young arts professionals are doing it for themselves: YPIA turns 10

Young People in Arts event at the Foundling Museum
Young People in Arts event at the Foundling Museum
With all the talk of budget cuts and other crises in the arts it is perhaps all to easy to get disheartened, particularly if you are a young professional just starting out in the industry. But young arts professionals are showing that they are unfazed by all this, in Young People in Arts (YPIA) they have taken things into their own hands. 

YPIA event - Diversity in the Arts Workforce at Soho Works, 2016
YPIA event - Diversity in the Arts Workforce at Soho Works, 2016
YPIA provides a community for young arts professionals, giving them the networking and development opportunities to help develop the skills necessary to succeed in today's arts sector. YPIA is ten in 2018, and is launching a celebratory tenth anniversary season with a Launch Party at the Koppel Project on 20 September.

YPIA was founded in 2008 and since then membership has grown significantly so that there are now over 4,500 members. The organisation is run by a committee of young arts professionals (who volunteer their time). YPIA events have already featured more than 200 speakers from the arts sector (including Sir Nicholas Serota, Jude Kelly, Darren Henley and Tony Hall, among many others) and talks cover all the arts, including music, theatre, visual arts, film, literature, dance, opera, and digital arts, and members can participate in a variety of ways including contributing to the YPIA blog.


Stella Toonen, 25, one of YPIA’s volunteer directors, commented: "The organisation gives young professionals a way in and up through the arts sector, helping young voices to become more prominent in discussions about the future of the sector that they will be leading in just a few years’ time."

Further information from the YPIA website.

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