Re-write the Narrative Exhibition Project with Care-Experienced Young People 

The Re-write the Narrative exhibition project was a partnership project between Tullie, Cumberland Council and local care-experienced young people. The project involved providing this group with an outlet to express themselves and share their stories through their chosen artforms.  

The exhibition was a powerful and emotive showcase of creativity as a tool for self-expression and advocacy. Featuring oil paintings, collages, creative display boxes, poetry, and photography, each piece communicated deeply personal experiences and challenged perceptions. The project stands as a compelling example of how arts engagement can support resilience, self-confidence, and community connection for care-experienced young people. 

Our community team thoroughly enjoyed getting to know the group and helping them to bring their vision to life.  

The launch event for the exhibition was a vibrant celebration, attended by children’s social services, carers, support workers, friends, and family. The young people themselves presented insights about the project, sharing both the process and the personal significance of their involvement, demonstrating confidence and ownership over their work. 

We’d like to thank the group for giving us an insight into your experiences and trusting Tullie to be a place to share your stories.  

 Feedback from the young artists involved: 

“I feel like the exhibition has given young people a chance to voice their experience in a creative way.“It’s really important and good that we have this space to show that.”  

“Being part of the Re-write the Narrative exhibition in Tullie makes me feel strong.  It gives each of us a creative space to tell our stories on being care experienced, which, for me, has shaped a lot of who I am today.  It’s given me the chance to tell my story.”  

“It’s very personal to me and growing up in foster care everything’s decided for you, you don’t have your own voice, so this was kind of a way to rewrite my story with my own feelings and my own intentions.” 

“Art, for me, was a way of being able to be a child and get to express myself in that way, and it was – I guess, for want of a better word – allowed.” 

“Care leavers often feel isolated, but coming together to work on this project helped me to feel part of a community.” 

“It just brings a bit of light onto the situation which I think is immensely needed and called for, which is why these creative spaces are so important to tell these stories,”