For me, learning art at school was never a subject taken seriously by students or what felt like teachers too. Perhaps this was because art has never been a subject that is taken seriously from a young age. One of those subjects that you are told is “easy”, or in my case, when I attended secondary school, teachers told me that it was the “easy option”.
This week we were lucky enough to have Artist Facilitator Lindsey Smith as our guest speaker. Lindsey, who has extensive photography knowledge and works closely with galleries, provides children and young adults with opportunities to work with art externally, away from school or college-based limitations. As the text ‘The Artist as Educator’ says; “The lack of engagement with contemporary art practice in schools in England reported by Downing and Watson may go some way to explaining why many teachers find it difficult to integrate gallery-based and school-based practices,” which supports why Lindsey’s role within the art sector is so vital. Giving children and young adults opportunities to engage in gallery-led projects will provide education around exhibiting and will give confidence to those who want to study art or take art further. It will also help those understand that art is not an “easy option” that there is more to art than blunt pencils and dry felt tips.
As we all know, children and young adults can be a tough crowd; however, Lindsey’s teaching experience incorporates formal and informal learning, including continued professional development for teachers and accredited training and mentoring programmes for young professionals in the cultural sector. This means that all those surrounding Lindsey receive an extraordinary session that motivates the learner.
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