Rooted in youth work and artistic practice, YAW examines the relationships, language, culture and institutional conditions that shape young people’s everyday lives.
An account of Beyond Graffiti’s development in Southampton, from its 1987 youth work origins to its renewed 2002 partnership with designers, graffiti writers and Southampton City Youth Service. I reflect on working alongside the project at Paynes Road, and how it changed my understanding of creative practice within public and institutional space.
Beginning with a New Deal placement in 2001, I became editor of Hype Magazine for Southampton City Youth Service in 2002. This reflection considers publishing as youth work, training and public practice; how young people’s work gained visibility, and how editorial authority shaped what entered public circulation.
When reliable internet access at home could not be assumed, Southampton’s Bargate Internet Café brought Hype Magazine, Youthnet, employment experience and informal youth work into one shared civic space.
In 2001, Labour’s New Deal programme placed me with Hype, a youth magazine connected to Southampton City Youth Service. What began as a practical route out of unemployment became an encounter with direct youth work and with questions about creativity, opportunity, authority and relationship that still shape YAW.
YAW 