Draw
Letters, characters, colour, composition, handstyles and blackbook practice. Start with what you already make.
ROOTED. GRAFFITI / STREET ART / HIP-HOP
MAKE YOUR MARK.
If you fill notebooks with letters, draw characters in the margins, make stickers, obsess over murals, album covers, posters, tags, photography or street design — this is a real branch. You do not need to already know a writer, gallery, agency or crew to find the door.
THE CULTURE STAYS IN IT
Not beige youth art.
Graffiti and hip-hop grew through people teaching people, crews, neighbourhoods, records, photographs, walls, zines, battles and style. ROOTED is not here to bleach that history out of the pathway. The job is to create legal space, access to materials, real mentors and visible next steps while respecting the culture that made the art matter in the first place.
Legal walls and permitted projects only through ROOTED. Spray-paint use requires suitable space, ventilation, protective equipment and responsible adult supervision.
FROM NOTEBOOK TO REAL WORK
There should be a next step.
Learn
Meet writers, muralists, designers, printers, photographers and other working creatives who can explain technique and culture.
Paint
Move into permitted practice boards, legal walls and supervised mural projects with proper prep, materials and safety.
Build
Turn work into prints, stickers, tees, posters, album art, digital pieces, photography, video and collaborative projects.
Show
Optional youth-controlled portfolios, exhibitions, zines, showcases and media features. Public sharing is never the price of participation.
Get paid
Where real commissions, design work or licensed products happen, young artists should be treated like creators — including clear agreements and compensation.
GRAFF MEDIA + HIP-HOP
The people who document the culture are part of the pathway.
Writers + muralists
Letter structure, history, wall technique, collaboration, critique, legal-wall etiquette and the difference between style and imitation.
Graffiti media + zines
Interviews, photo essays, print zines, archives, youth-led publishing and coverage that lets young artists see how the culture documents itself.
DJs + producers + MCs
Beatmaking, DJing, performance, recording, live sound, cover art, event posters and the creative overlap between sound, language and visual identity.
Explore the music production + DJ branch →Breakers + dancers
Movement, battles, event culture, stage design and multidisciplinary showcases where visual artists are part of the room, not decoration.
Photo + video crews
Document murals and events, teach shooting and editing, build reels and short films, and help young artists learn how to present their work.
Record shops + labels + venues
Album art, posters, window installations, live-paint opportunities, release events, commissions and space for young creative work to be seen.
INDUSTRY / RETAIL / MEDIA
Pick a lane. Help a kid make something real.
Paint + marker brands
Supply paint, caps, markers, sketch materials, PPE, product education and safe-use guidance.
Art + street retailers
Materials, discounts, youth showcases, window space, local mentors and introductions into the creative retail world.
Printers + apparel
Screen printing, stickers, posters, embroidery, production education, sample runs and paid or licensed youth-designed products.
Design + software
Tablets, software access, creative tools, workshops, portfolio guidance and pathways into illustration, motion and commercial design.
Media + creators
Profiles, interviews, short films, podcasts, photography, calls for legal walls and coverage that gives youth work context instead of exploiting it.
Agencies + studios
Portfolio reviews, creative briefs, job-shadowing, mentorship, production knowledge and age-appropriate pathways into paid creative work.
Festivals + galleries
Legal mural space, exhibitions, live-paint opportunities, artist talks, juried calls and public-facing opportunities built around consent.
Property + hardware
Walls, panels, surface preparation, lifts where professionally appropriate, coatings, cleanup equipment and locations that can host permitted work.
THE NON-NEGOTIABLES
Young artists are not free content.
Their art stays theirs.
Participation does not automatically give ROOTED, a brand, a school or a media outlet ownership of a young person’s work.
Exposure is not payment.
If a commercial partner wants usable artwork or a real commission, the agreement and compensation need to be clear before the work begins.
Sharing is a choice.
Public portfolios, photos, names, interviews and promotional use require appropriate permission and youth-safe consent practices.
No public kid-data intake.
Adults, schools and community organizations can contact ROOTED about opportunities. Do not send children’s personal information, identifiable images or portfolios through a public form.
THE WALL / LIVE ROOTED VISUALS
THIS IS WHAT THE DOOR CAN LOOK LIKE.
ROOTED is already using graffiti and illustration to build school identity, stickers, merch and campaign visuals. Click the work to see where it lives. The youth pathway is about helping the next artist learn how to get from sketchbook to something real.
School concepts are ROOTED-generated and unofficial unless separately approved. Existing art is shown as an example of creative pathways, not as youth participant work.
YOU DRAW. WE HELP FIND THE DOOR.
A wall can become a portfolio. A sketch can become a career.
ROOTED is building the connections around the talent: materials, legal space, transport, mentors, media, production, industry and a real next step.
Pathway in development. No specific program, partner, placement, commission, wall, funding or equipment contribution is represented as confirmed unless separately stated.