Spread your artistic wings this summer and take part in one of dozens of creative activities being run by engage, the organisation that tirelessly promotes access and enjoyment for all to the visual arts.
No matter what kind of art you and your children enjoy, or even if you’ve never even thought about participating in an arts event, Children’s Art Week will offer an experience you may well remember for a lifetime.
Don’t miss the chance to get creative with your kids at one of the hundreds of events being held in venues around the UK between June 13th-21st. With everything from ‘Weird & Wonderful Weaving’ to ‘Mosaic Making’ there’s bound to be something on near you which will bring a welcome break from those all-consuming technological devices.
Previously known as Children’s Art Day, the programme has run since 2000 and has given thousands of children and young people the opportunity to experience the visual arts together with their parents, teachers and carers, and get involved with a broad range of practical art activities with artists and makers.
Last year, more than 15,000 children and adults took part in over 100 events across the UK, including a riverside sketching expedition; creating sculptures inspired by Mondrian; making Roman armour from cardboard; experimenting with sunprint photography; taking part in an art challenge tombola and designing computer games, amongst many others. Venues included galleries, museums, primary and secondary schools, community centres, country parks and children’s services.
Children’s Art Week is run by engage, the National Association for Gallery Education. engage is passionate about increasing access to, and enjoyment and understanding of, the visual arts. The organisation supports the visual arts through professional development for education and learning colleagues including teachers, artists and gallery educators through a wide range of research. It also runs groundbreaking projects and programmes; promotes learning through artworks, artists, museums and galleries and above all encourages everyone to get involved in the arts.
“Children’s Art Week is a fantastic opportunity for children and families to enjoy and experience the visual arts across the UK,” comments Lloyd Grossman OBE, Children’s Art Week Ambassador. “Whether its working with an artist, visiting a gallery or museum or making art at school, these experiences can inspire greater creativity in children and young people and have a positive impact in all areas of their lives.”
Many events are free whilst some may have a small charge to cover the cost of materials. Details of all Children’s Art Week events can be found at: www.childrensartweek.org.uk Also check your local listings and press for details.
Generation ART
Another wonderful project being run by engage this year in England is called Generation ART: Young Artists on Tour – an exhibition of children and young people’s artwork with associated learning programmes, supported by Arts Council England’s Strategic touring programme.
Over the past months, children and young people between the ages of 4 and 18 have been submitting their artwork in any medium, including digital, video, painting, drawing, textiles, sculpture etc. It could be a finished artwork, or a piece of research – a drawing, study or model or maquette.
The submissions are to be judged by a selection panel comprising artists, curators, experts from the education sector and young people, and a core selection of the work will be made for the touring exhibition. A larger body of selected work from the submissions will form a unique, freely available digital resource, which will support the exhibition tour, act as an inspiring resource for teachers, artists and visual arts educators, and provide a legacy well beyond the life of the project.
The exhibition will open at Turner Contemporary, Margate in June, and tour to New Walk Museum and Art Gallery and Soft Touch Arts in Leicester, and Quay Arts on the Isle of Wight in 2015-16.
For more details visit: www.engage.org/aboutgenart