Raheem Sterling, a football player for England and Chelsea, has chosen to join the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) in London. Through his Raheem Sterling Foundation, the Jamaican-born footballer has partnered with the NPG to launch a brand-new, innovative youth engagement initiative called Making of Me. The organization champions higher education, employment possibilities, and social mobility for young people.
According to a statement from NPG, the Making of Me initiative offers “30 young people from London the chance to master a variety of talents and the knowledge needed to develop into future creative careers.”
Twelve seminars and master courses on self-identity, representation, place, and community will be attended by program participants. Following a three-year shutdown and £35.5 million renovation, participants will create photographic and portraiture works inspired by artifacts in the NPG collection. The works will be displayed at the gallery when it reopens in the spring of 2019. (Inspiring People project).
“Initially delivered in Raheem’s home borough of Brent, our new partnership will offer opportunities for young people to learn new skills by working in collaboration with artists and makers,” says Liz Smith, the director of learning and engagement at the National Portrait Gallery, in a statement.
The NPG statement adds: “Following the Making of Me project, the Raheem Sterling Foundation and National Portrait Gallery will consider further collaborations nationally and internationally in the future.”
