In Spring of 2025, our Future Creative Leaders (FCL) brought their Brighton Festival showcase, We, The Change, beyond the gallery walls and into the heart of Brighton and Hove, by partnering with BUILDHOLLYWOOD, experts in creative street advertising. Our Future Creative Leaders designed a series of public interventions—provocative questions and bold statements —that were displayed on billboards across the city. These striking visual statements challenged, engaged, and sparked dialogue among the public, turning Brighton’s streets into an open-air canvas for ideas and activism.
The posters follow a previous billboard collaboration from last year.
"We wanted to make some noise in the city. We’re losing space, we’re losing platforms. Our voices need to be heard, and it was so affirming to have that support from BUILDHOLLYWOOD.
It’s amplified what we’re doing. It charged people up. It’s a buzz, big style, seeing your work on that scale.’ And what does that buzz do for the young people you’re working with?“ It’s empowering. They see their words amplified, platformed. They see their ideas acknowledged, and that’s rare. They’re too often shunned, criticised, and gaslit.
Levvy runs a mental health initiative, eott, for young people, by young people, using colloquial language. He’s built an audience online of tens of thousands and has collaborated with Elijah, Keep Hush and Public Health for England. He’s destigmatised it. We’d done one of the Lightworks events just before, but launching the billboards and seeing his work at scale – it gave him increased confidence to do things in real life, offline.
This year's set of billboards contained a series of phrases, including one which said ‘Hope is Radical’….
It was an extension of what we did before. Silver Hayes at Glastonbury just put something up: ‘optimism is political’. It’s a wider feeling. There’s a lot of doom out there and to be hopeful is radical. To be optimistic is a political act. When we see so much negative commentary, that can weigh heavy. We wanted to cut through and deal some hope. We have been afforded that optimism through resource and space and programming. We hear so much about radicalisation – how can we positively radicalise people?
We meet the Future Creative Leaders every couple of months for a formal meeting. We workshopped, tested out each other’s ideas. Through all the meetings and conversations, we’d record them, and pull from them – remember you said that? It really resonated. The phrases link back to themes we’ve spoke about – optimism and accountability, being grounded, confidence." Bobby Brown, Lighthouse’s Creative Communities Producer, is leading our Future Creative Leaders’ programme.
Read the rest of Emma Warren's interview with Bobby, plus our Future Creative Leaders' personal reflections on an aspect of the programme in the digital booklet below.
ABOUT FUTURE CREATIVE LEADERS
Future Creative Leaders (FCL) is a 12-month paid programme offering young creatives from underrepresented backgrounds the opportunity to work closely with Lighthouse's leadership team to explore various aspects of creative leadership. Funded and supported by Art Fund’s ‘Reimagine Grants’ and Chalk Cliff Trust, over the year, participants will co-curate programmes, select participants for mini-residencies, and recruit their successors, all while exploring alternative governance structures, accountability, and power-sharing.
The programme partners the FCL members with Trustee Buddies, providing them with essential finance and governance training. This mentorship aims to integrate FCL more closely with Lighthouse's Board of Trustees, setting a precedent for similar organisations across the cultural sector to follow.
Throughout the year, participants will document their governance experience creatively, sharing their insights and learnings with the wider sector. The culmination of their efforts will be showcased during Brighton Festival 2025, offering a platform to highlight the impact and significance of the programme.
Lighthouse’s Creative Communities Producer, Bobby Brown is leading the ‘Future Creative Leaders’ programme. He says: "We believe that the future of cultural leadership lies in nurturing diverse talents and embracing innovative approaches. Our Future Creative Leaders initiative represents our commitment to empowering the next generation of leaders and reimagining the possibilities within our sector.
Lighthouse Artistic Director and CEO, Alli Beddoes said: “The creative landscape of the city is under existential threat from budget cuts. It’s increasingly difficult for new creative voices to be heard. We are driven to reform an arts scene which too often holds back many talented young people for economic and social reasons. We see a brighter future for the next generation of inspiring young artists.”
ABOUT BUILDHOLLYWOOD
Built on an art school mentality that stretches back decades to our founder, we have a talented collection of agencies – DIABOLICAL, JACK and JACK ARTS who specialise in their fields alongside highly skilled creatives who come together to produce street level poster campaigns, creative billboards, hand painted murals, interactive installations, ambient and unique experiential campaigns to create authentic interactions with people on the street.
www.buildhollywood.co.uk | @buildhollywood
ABOUT ARTFUND
Art Fund is the national charity for art, helping museums and people to share in great art and culture for 120 years. Art Fund raises millions of pounds every year to help the UK’s museums, galleries and historic houses. The charity funds art, enabling the UK’s museums to buy and share exciting works, connect with their communities, and inspire the next generation. It builds audiences, with its National Art Pass opening doors to great culture. And it amplifies the museum sector through the world’s largest museum prize, Museum of the Year, and creative events that bring the UK’s museums together. Art Fund is people-powered by 135,000 members who buy a National Art Pass, and the donors, trusts and foundations who support the charity. The National Art Pass provides free or discounted entry to over 850 museums, galleries and historic places, 50% off major exhibitions, and Art Quarterly magazine.
ABOUT CHALK CLIFF TRUST
The Chalk Cliff Trust is a foundation set up to provide grants and donations to charities, action groups and benevolent organisations in East Sussex.
