RA Young Producers Programme

The RA Young Producers programme exists to equip a group of young people aged between 16-25 with the experience of programming and producing events. This programme was designed to support the opening of the Kerry James Marshall exhibition at the Royal Academy of Art in October 2025.

I attended bi-weekly meetings over the course of 9 months leading up to a 16-25 Young Person's Festival designed by the Young Producers to engage this demographic in Marshall's work.

I’m thrilled with how our 16-25 Kerry James Marshall festival went.

From the usual nerves in the morning and that voice saying “absolutely no one will turn up”, to over a THOUSAND people walking from workshop to workshop. It was a great atmosphere, we had really positive feedback and queues out the door for some activities. Portrait painting with Des Haughton especially.

To see Marshall’s work in the flesh being admired as it should be, by such a large audience was awe inspiring. And to be part of a real life, large-scale, event at a renowned insitution was incredible.

Our hard work paid off with an event that was buzzing with life, we scheduled fabulous talks and activities by talented artists, curators, facilitators and writers.

Talks included:

“Igniting Your Creative Career” with Makella Ama Ketedzi, Nate Agbetu, Caleb Femi, and Aliyah Hasinah.

“Inside the Studio: Becoming an Artist Today” with Precious Adesina, Bernice Mulenga, Emmanuel Awuni, and Maya Gurung-Russell Campbell.

And “Reframing Blackness” with Alayo Akinkugbe (author of book by same name).

Activities included:

Live and improvised poetry performances by Born::Free.

A zine making workshop with Korantema Anyimadu.

Comic illustrations with Djofray Makambu, Ren Saulter, and Mohammed Adel.

A collaborative mural with Colours of Art School.

I’m extremely thankful for the support of the RA Learning Team, in particular, Rhys Smallman and Cornelius Prior who led our cohort through the process. They kept things moving forward and trusted us enough to give us real agency in planning activities for the day.

I’m hoping to produce and programme more projects in the future, I’m looking forward to potential projects now I’ve raised my ambitions on what an event can do.