Community & Participation
For over 20 years I have worked with communities that are often excluded from arts and cultural spaces: young people not in education or employment, care leavers, asylum seekers, mental health inpatients, young carers, people living with dementia, and communities affected by poverty and inequality. My approach always begins with listening — and the work is always led by the people I am working with.  I believe that everyone has something important to make and say, and that the role of the artist is to create the conditions for that to happen.
Litter / Let Me Be Heard
Endeavour (NEET young people)  |  2018–2019
What happened: Led young people excluded from mainstream education to create life-size armature sculptures from recycled litter, addressing environmental issues in Page Hall. Final artworks exhibited at Millennium Galleries and Winter Gardens as a public arts intervention, followed by a family day, film screening and sculpture exhibition.
'Sarah Jane Palmer began her work with the young people by telling them her own life story. This helped them identify with her as her life trajectory was similar to theirs. The girls identified with her immediately while the boys watched for a while before then fully engaging to the amazement of staff. Young people created hand-crafted sculptures using the recycled waste material. They made armature figurative forms first and then moved on to creating life-size figures. This activity helped with their personal development – increasing engagement, concentration, self-discipline, pride and creative skills. It also highlighted the extent of the waste problem in the local area and helped develop a sense of responsibility in their local community.'  
Outcomes: Public exhibition. Film documentation. Measurable increases in engagement, concentration, pride and creative skills.
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