Seocho-gu '2024 Youth Gallery Project' Participating Artists and Cafes Recruitment

District to recruit 60 young artists and 20 cafes for the 2024 'Youth Gallery Project' by next month on the 8th
Additional operation of 'Bangbae-ro Distribution Box Gallery', doubling activity support funds, expanding support for young artists and exhibition venues

Alleyway Gallery

Seocho-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jeon Seong-su) announced that it will recruit 60 young artists to participate in the ‘2024 Youth Gallery Project’ and 20 cafes to provide gallery spaces by the 8th of next month.

Now in its 6th year, the ‘Youth Gallery Project’ is a representative youth art policy of the district that began in 2019 with the ‘Cafe Gallery,’ which exhibited works by local young artists in cafes.

Last year, the project expanded the ‘art and culture spaces’ to more everyday locations such as village bus stops, electric distribution boxes, and alley walls, in addition to cafe galleries. Starting this year, the exhibition venues will be further increased, and support for young artists will be significantly expanded.

First, the ‘Bangbae-ro Distribution Box Gallery,’ which transforms electric distribution boxes that spoil the cityscape into design facilities harmonizing with the surrounding environment, will expand from 26 locations last year to a total of 42 locations, adding 16 more. In addition, the district will continuously discover areas in need of environmental improvement, such as those requested by residents or for the creation of ‘walkable streets,’ to exhibit artworks.

Also, to support the continuous and stable artistic activities of selected young artists, the annual activity support fund, which was previously 500,000 KRW, will be doubled to 1,000,000 KRW per person per year.

Along with this, the ‘Youth Gallery School (Orientation)’ will be held to provide a communication platform for young artists. The works of young artists will be used to produce Seocho-gu souvenirs such as tumblers and calendars, which will also be utilized for external promotion.

Youth artists and cafe owners who wish to participate in the project can download the application form from the announcements section on the Seocho-gu Office website and submit it via email. Next month, a panel of experts will focus on reviewing artists’ portfolios to select the participating works.

The selected works will be exhibited from March to December for nine months at a total of 117 locations: 20 cafes, 20 bus stops, 42 Bangbae-daero distribution boxes, and 35 walls of Seoul National University of Education, with one artist’s work matched to each location.

In cafes, visitors will experience artworks that complement the indoor atmosphere, while at bus stops, distribution boxes, and alleys, various works considering harmony with the surrounding environment will be showcased.

A young artist who participated in last year’s Youth Gallery Project said, “I felt great fulfillment in being able to introduce art, which can feel difficult, more easily to residents and contribute to improving Seocho’s aesthetics through my work.”

Meanwhile, over the past five years through the ‘Youth Gallery Project,’ the district has exhibited 678 works by a total of 230 young artists, selling 39 pieces and earning a total profit of 23.01 million KRW. The proceeds are fully paid to the artists to help their economic independence, and the district plans to actively promote additional sales.

Jeon Seong-su, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “We will do our best to operate the Youth Gallery to create opportunities for young artists to realize their dreams and passions and to allow residents to enjoy culture and arts more easily in their daily lives.”