Unpacking Rights, Confronting RISK: The summer Artivism programme

Since Article 31 of the UNCRC - the right for all children to rest, relax and play - became incorporated into Scots Law two years ago, we’ve been championing and examining it. What good is a policy if it isn’t understood and practiced by who it’s about? This was the foundation of our summer Artivism programme, aiming to empower young people to discuss and exercise their rights through creative participation. 

Across July and August we delivered 26 creative engagement sessions with 38 children and young people, using graffiti, painting, collage, creative writing and music. This week, we are presenting the RISK campaign which emerged from the programme. The first public campaign features 7 posters created by young people which will be displayed throughout Glasgow at 20 JACKARTS advertising sites, as well as 40 total available to scroll through in a digital gallery below:

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Listening to what mattered

While Article 31 provided a foundation, the conversation was expansive, opening up to discuss Articles 12, 13, 24 and 28, which emphasise being heard, freedom of expression, wellbeing and access to education. Strong themes arose around the stigma of care experience, unequal access to opportunities and services, feeling over-analysed and over-monitored, frustration with systems that make decisions without explanation, wanting stronger relationships rather than more interventions and how creativity helps to communicate experiences difficult to express verbally.

Additionally, the backdrop of the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow this summer stimulated discussion of wider themes including democracy, equality, sustainable futures, but with focus on what these values mean in young peoples’ own lives inside the care system. Democracy became conversations about being listened to and having meaningful influence over decisions that affect them. Human rights became discussions about dignity, relationships and fairness. Sustainable futures took on a dual meaning - environmental, through artwork on overconsumption and waste, and social, through hopes for communities where care experienced young people are recognised for their strengths and supported to thrive.

A theme that came up repeatedly and strongly was around how the idea of ‘risk’ shapes life in care settings: being seen as a risk, being continually risk assessed, or having opportunities restricted because of perceived risk. This inspired the name of the resulting public campaign, RISK. 

What we did and the impact

The programme used graffiti, visual art, collage, creative writing and music to explore rights. The flexibility of National Lottery funding also enabled us to respond to opportunities as they arose, working across multiple care settings rather than delivering a fixed programme. This allowed us to reach young people who might otherwise never have participated. 

Alongside creating the 40 original campaign posters, we arranged follow-on creative activities with SWG3 and Yardworks, connected participants to professional artists and musicians and enabled young people to attend live cultural experiences, including a meet and greet with Kyle Falconer and an immersive digital arts workshop with OPTIKA. 

But the most powerful outcome of the project was the confidence and relationships built. Young people who started out engaging quietly grew increasingly willing to share personal experiences through their creative practice, and several told us they'd made artwork they were genuinely proud of for the first time. In residential settings, that pride was visible immediately - work went up in communal areas, and two young people chose to take theirs straight to their bedrooms to display on their own walls. 

Creative practice also became a bridge between young people and the trusted adults around them. Alongside work exploring difficult experiences, participants often chose to create pieces celebrating positive relationships - one young person in secure care dedicated a poster to a key worker, capturing how trust, humour and consistency had shaped their experience. Staff in several settings told us they'd learned things about young people through the workshops that had never come up in traditional conversation.

Learning and legacy

With all projects at Articulate, we tend to not see ‘end points’ but opportunities for future engagement. The public campaign is only the first stage of the Glasgow pilot, and builds towards an Artivism exhibition in Glasgow in May 2027, bringing together the artwork, young people's voices and everything the programme has learned along the way.

Four participating settings have commissioned follow-up programmes, and new partnerships have developed across residential and secure care. The poster campaign will reach thousands of people across Glasgow, and the digital gallery will preserve every participant's artwork permanently. The themes from this summer are already shaping the next phase of Artivism, and our wider ambition to embed arts participation within care planning and children's rights practice.

The Artivism programme reinforced an approach of empowerment and collaboration. We know that creative activism is most effective when young people retain genuine ownership of both process and message, and the strongest artwork emerged when participants were not asked to create campaign materials but were instead supported to explore the issues that mattered most to them.

In the discussions, one of the most significant findings was that young people rarely separated human rights from everyday relationships. Democracy became conversations about being listened to. Equality became conversations about stigma and belonging. Sustainable futures became conversations about hope, family and the next generation.

Perhaps the most important learning was the role creativity plays in supporting difficult conversations. Creative practice naturally encourages experimentation, uncertainty and safe risk-taking. Rather than asking young people to simply talk about trauma, making artwork created space for stories, frustrations, hopes and ambitions to emerge in ways that felt authentic and self-directed.

Artivism will continue - we want to reach young people across Scotland and hear what messages and rights they want to voice. To get involved or learn more, email laurafrood@articulatehub.com

Poster sites - live until 30/08/26

St Enoch/Maxwell Stree

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

172 Sauchiehall Street

172 Sauchiehall Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street

Rear Woodside Crescent, St Georges Rd

Rosevale Street/Dumbarton Road

Sauchiehall Street

Skypark, Finnieston Street/South East

St Enoch Square

St Enoch/Howard Street

St Enoch/Maxwell Street