Tag: Art UK

Free virtual school trip launches to support greater access to art lessons across the UK

From Walsall to Glasgow, Art UK’s ‘The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure’ takes children on a ‘trip’ across the UK, widening access to cultural opportunities and building essential visual literacy skills

This week, art education charity, Art UK has announced its first ever ‘virtual’ school trip – The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure. Taking place on Wednesday, 2nd October, the free online event is available to all primary schools across the UK and is designed to equip pupils with essential visual literacy and visual intelligence skills.

Hosted by renowned artist Sarah Graham, The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure will take pupils on an exciting journey to Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, Scotland, and The New Art Gallery in Walsall, England. While at both galleries, Graham will explore different artworks and invite pupils to interpret, negotiate and make meaning from the images presented to them. 

Following the adventure, pupils will then be tasked with their own project – taking inspiration from the galleries’ artworks and the environment around them to create a collage that celebrates their local area.

By providing accessible access to art education, this initiative is designed to introduce a new vision for teaching and learning – championing the role of visual arts and media in a way that drives a paradigm shift in education. It will also empower pupils with lifelong skills and the ability to critically observe, analyse, question, interpret and empathise with the images all around them.

This inclusive educational experience comes at a critical time, with today’s young people growing up in an increasingly image-saturated world – meaning pupils need to be equipped with the knowledge, confidence and skills necessary to successfully navigate this modern world.

Additionally, the virtual event will help schools broaden the opportunities available to pupils, particularly those in rural communities who may not be able to readily access museums and galleries, while also helping with dwindling school budgets.

Artist and host of The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure, Sarah Graham said: “Partnering with Art UK to travel to galleries in England and Scotland has been such an exciting opportunity and privilege.

“The creative industries are vitally important, not only from a cultural and educational perspective, but also play a critical role in developing pupils’ social and emotional intelligence.

“Over recent years, access to art in schools has become increasingly prohibitive, but The Superpower of Looking’s Art Adventure makes me optimistic for the future and I’m delighted to be involved in an initiative that will nurture a love of art and learning throughout our schools.

“I look forward to seeing the potential this trip has in inspiring the next generation of artists who will make all our lives so much more colourful.”

Mike Craig, Headteacher at Arnage Primary School in Aberdeenshire, said: “Teaching visual literacy to the children in my class has helped open up a whole new world for them. It helps them consider things in new ways, search for hidden meaning and appreciate different perspectives – skills that will stand them in good stead for their future.

“Many children are initially intimidated by art, but working in this way and with accessible and engaging resources has helped overcome this barrier and developed a true love of learning and appreciation for our creative subjects.”

Katie Leonard, Head of Learning at Art UK, added: “We are honoured to have such an inspiring artist in Sarah to help us empower and inspire pupils and teachers across the country with this project.

“The Superpower of Looking is transforming the visual literacy skills of children throughout the UK, and this new Art Adventure is another way we can embed art in teaching and learning and champion visual literacy as the fourth pillar of modern education.

“We are committed to making art accessible to as many people as possible and hope that this virtual school trip brings us one step closer to making art an integral part of children’s lives and education.”

To support this learning, The Superpower of Looking’s resource kit includes additional bespoke films, full lesson plans, teacher training videos and a lesson toolkit, as well as access to Art UK’s digital database, providing access to art to every child, parent and teacher across the country.

Schools can learn more about The Superpower of Looking and sign up for the Art Adventure here: https://artuk.org/learn/virtual-visit.

Art UK launches free visual literacy programme for every primary school

NATIONAL charity, Art UK, has launched a free programme, The Superpower of Looking®, to equip young people with the visual literacy skills that have become essential to successfully navigate the modern, image-saturated world.   

In the UK, it is estimated that young adults have a combined total of approximately 10 million photographs on their smartphones. Additionally, recent analysis found that by 2030 there will be 382 billion images on Google Images.

Against this expansive backdrop of our increasingly visual world and the rapid developments of AI, it is vital that young people are empowered to fully embrace the opportunities of digital advancements of the evolving world around them and the future advancement still to come.  

An evidence-based programme, The Superpower of Looking accelerates curriculum development by providing free resources that empower students to critically observe, analyse, question and interpret images and communicate with confidence.

This includes bespoke films, full lesson resources, teacher training videos, a lesson toolkit and access to Art UK’s digital database of artworks, which includes more than 300,000 pieces of work by more than 500,000 artists across more than 3,400 British institutions.  

This launch follows the completion of two successful pilots in partnership with 70 schools in England and Scotland which found that The Superpower of Looking:   

  • Increases pupils’ confidence  
  • Improves visual literacy skills across all assessed areas, including understanding new concepts, substantiating points with evidence during peer discussions, critical thinking and more  
  • Achieves high pupil engagement with lesson materials  
  • Increases pupils’ interest in cultural education spaces.  

Additionally, 95 per cent of teachers that participated in the pilots reported feeling confident incorporating the resources into their classes and 92 per cent said they would recommend the programme to their peers.  

Adele Darlington, EYFS Teacher and Art Lead at Leighfield Primary School, said: “The Superpower of Looking brings art to life in the classroom, for both students and their teachers. I’ve seen how the programme inspired my pupils to stop and look at the world around them through a more critical lens and with deeper focus, and have seen them carry this into other areas of their learning.  

“Watching my pupils’ enthusiasm in the classroom grow after The Superpower of Looking lessons has been inspiring. For children who may never have engaged with arts and culture or been to visit a gallery before, it’s been a genuinely transformative experience.”  

Katie Leonard, Head of Learning at Art UK, said: “At a time when digital mediums and imagery play an increasingly important and influential role, it is vital that we are empowering young people with the knowledge, confidence and skills to successfully navigate the world around them.  

“By launching The Superpower of Looking today, we are making more than 300,000 works of art from more than 3,400 British institutions available to young people across the country.

“It is our hope that by doing so, this programme will help embed visual literacy in the primary curriculum and make art an integral and accessible part of every primary school classroom in the UK.”  

The Superpower of Looking is supported by Freelands Foundation. For more information about The Superpower of Looking and to sign up to the programme, please visit: artuk.org/learn/the-superpower-of-looking.