University News Last updated 10 February 2009
A new research think-tank - involving some of the most prestigious arts facilities in the country - was launched at Birmingham City University in a bid to enrich art and design education by getting youngsters out of the classroom and into galleries.
Educators from Tate Britain, The Royal Academy, The National Portrait Gallery, The Victoria and Albert Museum, The Baltic, The Serpentine and The IKON were among the specialist professionals who attended the University-hosted ‘New Art, New Curriculum, New Practices Symposium'.
To address the current initiatives in arts education it is recommended to use regional art galleries as ‘out-of-classroom' learning spaces and to develop professional practitioner partnerships - both locally and nationally.
The National Lottery and Birmingham City University-backed symposium provided a pilot forum to share in a piece of significant Birmingham City University research into arts education(1).
The event was organised by Anita Reardon, Senior Lecturer at the Faculty of Education, Law and Social Sciences at Birmingham City University, in partnership with the New Art Gallery Walsall (NAGW) and the National Lottery, through Arts Council England.
"This event focused on contemporary art practice within the secondary art and design curriculum and how this can be supported by learning in the gallery, it marks a significant stage in our research," explained Anita Reardon, Route Leader of the University's PGCE Secondary Art and Design programme.
"Current initiatives in education all sharpen the need to form effective professional partnerships. The symposium attracted a range of experts in the field who brought new insights for those who are looking for ways forward."
The symposium aimed to share best practice amongst teachers and lecturers of art and design education, tutors and PGCE trainees, gallery curators and education curators, artists and artist educators, policy makers and those with an interest in the field.