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Artworks Philosophy

‘It is terribly important to unlock that sense of wonder and curiosity that is in each of us at an early age - before it is washed away.’
Antony Gormley, Artist and Artworks Patron  

Since 1999, Artworks has celebrated and supported visual arts education in the UK.

The Clore Duffield Foundation believes that:

Artworks has been driven forward by four key concerns
Many pupils are being denied opportunities to realise their creative potential because of the lack of status, resources, time and expertise in art & design in schools. For five years the Artworks programme, devised and funded by the Foundation and spanning the Artworks Awards, Children's Art Day and a research dimension, has been based on the above beliefs and driven by four key concerns:
  1. The need to raise the status of art & design teaching in schools
    To ensure that art & design teachers feel supported in, and are valued for, their creative achievements, and that they are recognised for their inspiration and capacity to make a significant impact on learning across the curriculum. This support and recognition can take many forms but the time allocated to art, the resources allocated to art, and the provision of dedicated physical space for art (that is well designed, well resourced, and well maintained) are all important indicators.
  2. The need to increase the overall level of funding for art & design in schools and to create greater equity of resources between schools
    According to the Artworks survey of art & design resources (2001), the average annual amount spent on art materials was £2.68 per secondary school pupil and £1.23 per primary school pupil. According to a survey of teachers for the latest Artworks research report, State of the Art (published on 1 July 2004), there has been a welcome increase in the average annual capitation budget for art & design. However, there remain some serious problems in relation to the financial, and thereby the resource, inequity between schools. There is also an issue with the low priority which schools often give to art & design equipment, materials and spaces compared with most other subjects. The gap between the better and the worse off is widening dramatically.
  3. The need to ensure sufficient opportunities and funding for schools to visit galleries and employ artists-in-residence
    The 2001 Artworks survey of art & design resources found that only just over a third of secondary schools had employed an artist-in-residence, or had organised visits to, or collaborations with, galleries. About half of primary schools arrange visits to galleries or residencies by artists. While schools recognise the value of such activities, many report that they find them hard to organise or afford. The recent survey for State of the Art (2004) suggests that the situation has not improved significantly in the last three years. A key aim of Artworks has been to ensure that art & design teaching is inspired and enriched through regular contact with artists, galleries and museums, and that such activities are properly funded.
  4. The need to shape a more exciting and relevant art curriculum
    Former Artworks Judge Professor Helen Storey, has spoken of the need ‘to push the agenda for the arts internally ... to shape a more exciting and relevant art curriculum’. This means challenging prevailing orthodoxies in art education, regarding artists, art works and topics chosen to support art activity. It can also mean thinking creatively about how art & design positively enhances learning in other National Curriculum subjects.