The visual arts education charity AccessArt is calling for the value of art education to be more widely recognised by parents, teachers and creative adults.
Drawing on the findings of the recently published Warwick Report on the Future of Cultural Value, the Cambridge-based charity is posing what it believes are three key questions for consideration, one each for parents, teachers and ‘creative adults’.
Parents are encouraged to ask: “What has my child made with their hands at school this week?” For teachers, the question is: “How can we ensure the learning opportunities we offer pupils do justice to the employment opportunities of the future?” Creative adults meanwhile are encouraged to ask the question: “How can I share my skills and inspire the next generation?”
AccessArt, which is run by creative directors Paula Briggs and Sheila Ceccarelli, states: “We need to keep shouting louder: just like creativity itself, visual arts education is a fragile entity which can so easily be stopped in its tracks. The pipeline to the creative industries begins at preschool, continues through primary school, through to secondary school and into HE and FE.
”At each of these stages, and every time we fail to provide an opportunity for children and young people to explore their relationship with the world through making and drawing, we weaken this pipeline, and potentially prevent the next generation of creative individuals from helping build the creative industries of the future.”
