Esther Adesigbin, left, with fellow October Gallery education manager, Jessica Banister

ART galleries are not often thought of as the most welcoming places, particularly for young people or those from marginalised backgrounds.

I’ve often found them to be austere, stuffy, pretentious – not for those not in the know.

But I’m told things are changing in this regard, since the Black Lives Matter protests, with galleries now taking more of an interest in appealing to a wider range of people rather than nurturing a sense of exclusivity.

So we head to the October Gallery in Bloomsbury, which is something of a pioneer in this regard.

This week I caught up with one of its community artists ahead of a young person’s “takeover” there starting yesterday (Thursday).

The gallery runs a “OG Youth Collective” – which meets at least twice a month officially for after-school drop-in sessions for 14- to 24-year -olds who want to make art, film, create exhibitions and talk to each other about whatever is on display there.

“One of the most important things the youth collective does is organise trips to other galleries,” said Esther Adesigbin, an artist and teacher with a specialism in glass.

“So many people who come in with the school groups for a session here, have never been to an art gallery.”

“Now because of Black Lives Matter, really, other galleries are starting to think a bit more about who they are presenting and how they can address that, showing more of a breadth generally.”

Children enjoying the exhibition at the October Gallery

She added: “The October Gallery has been practising black history 365 days a year for a long time. All our artists have migrated here and have different life experiences. They are a lot more diverse in every sense of the world. We are a bit of a hidden gem in that respect.”

The OG collective has this month met to discuss the works of Aubrey Williams, an artist from Guyana best known for his oil paintings whose work is currently on show at the gallery.

They have created displays that include a series of protest placards among other creative treats.

Schoolchildren have made banners celebrating the story of the Windrush generation.

Ms Adesigbin, who got into art from an early age largely because of her mother who was a teacher and artist, said:

“Aubrey Williams was an abstract painter, very abstract in fact. He was part of a Caribbean collective with writers and poets who were not recognised at the time by the establishment. So they supported each other. We have been talking about that with the young people in the collective, and talking about how they could support each other as a group.”

She added: “Aubrey was a trained agronomist who was concerned about many things including plastic in the sea.

“Some of the placards the children made are about that. But they have also made ones that are to do with people being more creative in general. Some of them are just celebrations of themselves being unique.”

During the All for One, One for All exhibition, visitors will have the opportunity to create their own artworks at the gallery that will be added to the show.

There will be a workshop session for young people aged 12-16 on “creative professional development”, led by another of the gallery’s art educators, Georgie Fay today (Friday). On Saturday there is a family day led by Youth Collective members.

The events this week are being seen as an “invitation” to any other youth groups from around London who want to come and share their creative ideas, Ms Adesigbin said.