Annual Research Report 2024/25

This report coverers the second full year of programming. The network now includes seven organisations across England: Camden Art Centre in North London, Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, Leeds Art Gallery in West Yorkshire, South London Gallery in Peckham, Tate St Ives in Cornwall, Turner Contemporary in Margate, and Whitworth Art Gallery in Manchester. 

The research presents an understanding of wellbeing that balances the personal and the collective. Analysis of organisations’ research and enquiries clusters wellbeing into three broad interconnected domains: personal (focus, calmness, confidence), social (belonging, connection), and creative (skills, expression).

Significantly, wellbeing is positioned as a shared, relational accomplishment – what happens between people, not just within them. Collective wellbeing arises through attentiveness, reciprocity, and quality connections across the entire ecology: young people, artists, teachers, families, and institutions and their contextual environments.

A defining theme throughout the work during 2024/25 was ‘attentiveness’, a programme-wide ethos that encompasses listening, noticing, responding, and inclusion at every level of planning and delivery.

Stories from each organisation illustrate attentiveness in action, whether through deep observation, creating calm, relational spaces, embedding reciprocity, or validating resistance and critique. 

1. Long-term commitment and relationships remain the foundation of all meaningful engagement. 
2. Flexibility and responsiveness proved essential: adapting session times, spaces and methods improved participation. 
3. Inclusivity redefines what progress looks like: success was found across the spectrum of attitudes and behaviours, from turning up, trying something new, to choosing to engage quietly, or choosing to refuse. 
4. The role of artists and institutions was pivotal: their sensitivity and adaptability shaped every encounter. 
5. Attentiveness is a vital quality enabling organisations to truly connect with young people. Attentiveness matters for confidence, belonging and connection.