The context

I had been looking to do something in the graffiti scene for quite a while and had been going back and forth with my tutor on ideas for an event. We had played with a few ideas, but hadn't decided on anything, when my mum suggested running a workshop at a home-ed club that her friend runs. She was already running a macramé workshop at the same art club just a week later, and it felt like a nice opportunity to do something fun for home educated children that they would enjoy.

I decided to tag along to scope out the place and talk to the event organizer, Amy Loose. We discussed the logistics of running a graffiti workshop and what that would look like financially. Afterwards, we set up a group chat with Amy, my mum, and me. From there, we organized more details, and eventually, the day came. With guidance from my Arts award tutor Rachel, and some sessions together with her in person to discuss things to consider and plan for, I was able to run a small graffiti workshop where the kids could try out various mediums used in street art. I also invested in some graffiti books to bring along, which now sit in our family's own art library.

This review is part of Part E of Unit Two, where I will reflect on the successes and challenges I faced in delivering this project.

What skills I’ve developed

Coming into this project, I was asked to consider what leadership skills I thought were important and where I wanted to improve. While many of my expectations were accurate, there were also quite a few lessons I hadn’t anticipated.

Through this project, I had to take on a lot of responsibility for things like time management, safety, budgeting, and participant well-being. Because this was an event for others, I was accountable for more than just myself. That environment created a lot of pressure, but it also motivated me to do my best and deliver a successful workshop. This experience has given me a much better understanding of the logistics involved in running an event.

One of the biggest challenges was budgeting and finding creative solutions with the limited funds I had. Since I was paying out of pocket rather than charging for the workshop, I had to make financial decisions that balanced quality and quantity while keeping the event accessible. The biggest lesson I learned from this process is that budgeting often requires compromise—you have to determine the right balance between cost, quality, and the overall scale of your project.

Additionally, I also feel that my communication skills improved significantly. I had to be clear, firm, and welcoming to participants while also ensuring they understood safety guidelines and instructions. Adapting to different needs was essential. For example, one young girl, around six or seven years old, was very shy and struggled to press down the spray can nozzle. To support her, I gave her more time and asked if she wanted help applying pressure. This was just one of many moments where I had to adapt and work with others to ensure everyone felt comfortable and included.

I think the real take away I found from doing this project was learning to be responsible for others and being able to step up to what’s needed.

How I feel about the project as a whole.

I think it was a huge success. Everybody involved had a great time, tons of people were inspired to do more graffiti art of their own and it was a completely new experience for a lot of people.

Whilst I found it quite stressful at times during the build up to the event, once we got started with the art I was able to really relax and enjoy working with the children. I really pushed myself outside of my comfort zone and I think It really paid off.

Did I achieve what I set out to do?

In some ways I’d say I did. But I definitely think it was a lot more different than I had imagined it to be. A huge part of the process was adapting and changing my plan to what resources that I could use, how people acted on the day, what sort of venue I was working with. While it wasn’t exactly what I had first imagined, I discovered just how much more enjoyable it could be when you expand your original vision.

What did and didn’t go well

I'm quite grateful that we didn’t encounter any major issues during the workshop—just a few minor setbacks. The spray painting was incredibly popular, the cardboard canvases worked really well, and (for the most part) my materials held up as expected.

The biggest challenge we faced was the white spray can, which had broken the day before during testing. Additionally, towards the end of the workshop, we started running low on spray paint. Fortunately, this only affected the last few participants, and they were able to get just enough paint out of the remaining cans. They also filled in any gaps using the other art tools we had available, and everyone seemed satisfied despite the minor inconvenience.

On the organizational side, I managed to sort out most of the details early on, and we didn’t run into any major obstacles that could have disrupted the event. Overall, working with Amy was smooth and straightforward, making the planning process much easier.

How do I feel about the feedback I’ve received and do I agree with it?

After finishing the event I got all of the children to write a black board and score their enjoyment from 1-5, almost all of them gave me 4’s or 5’s and were extremely happy with the results of their work and told me about how fun it was to use the spray paints. I also spoke with some of the parents, who later told me that they thought I did a brilliant job and they were all very satisfied. This was especially true for the parents whose kids are usually not this keen to engage with these kinds of things and it makes me very happy that they had a great time.

This shows to me that I think I’m capable of delivering a fun and engaging experience, regardless of who’s doing it.

Furthermore the feedback that I received from Amy was also very positive. She went on to say that I was “incredibly friendly and professional to work with” and that “the session went really well”. I’m very grateful for the opportunity that Amy gave me and I’m glad that I was able to work in a professional environment like this one.

If I were to do this again, what would I do differently?

I think If I were to do something like this again I would probably spend more time on the planning phase and I would try to work with a more realistic scope for the project. I’ve found that I can be quite ambitious and I often overestimate what’s possible with the resources I have. Going forward I would try to keep closer control on the scale for the project and I would try to lay down more specifics and details at an earlier stage. That being said I think I did Incredibly well for a first attempt and I showed real initiative in this project. 

I look forward to what I do in the future and for my next project I’m confident that I can do something great.