It is crucial that museums and galleries work with schools that offer or are thinking of introducing the art history A-level in their teaching, particularly in state schools where uptake has been traditionally very low, culture minister Matt Hancock told an audience at the Royal Society of Arts last week.
He was speaking at an event organised by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to present the interim findings of its Inquiry into the Civic Role of Arts Organisations.
“It is encouraging that the government responded to concerns about losing the art history A-level and worked hard behind the scenes to bring it back,” said Alistair Brown, the MA’s policy officer.
“It is positive that it is looking to increase arts education provision in state schools. But there is more to do in terms of bringing people into the arts. Art history only plays a small part in that.”
The inquiry has found that while 62% of respondents said that fulfilling a civic role is an important or very important part of organisational missions, only 32% said that the idea of a civic role had been discussed at board level.
The interim briefing stated: “This suggests that while many arts organisations are demonstrating a civic role, it’s not something that’s examined or discussed and therefore may not be approached strategtically.
“Some concern has emerged about our attempt to establish a definition of the civic role of arts organisations. This is regarded as potentially reductive given the multitude of ways in which arts organisations might demonstrate and consistently reinvent their civic role.”
Brown said: “This inquiry has collected lots of evidence on how arts organisations are currently working with communities around the country.
“I hope that phase two of this project looks more closely at how civic institutions – including museums – can play a greater role in changing our towns and cities for the better, and how we can ensure that government policy works to support this.”
The inquiry will be broken into three parts: phase one looks at how arts organisations demonstrate their civic role, surveying arts organisations and interviewing key influencers; phase two will develop recommendations to support a growth in the civic role of arts organisations; and phase three will develop an implementation plan.
The phase one report is due in mid-February.
He was speaking at an event organised by the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation to present the interim findings of its Inquiry into the Civic Role of Arts Organisations.
“It is encouraging that the government responded to concerns about losing the art history A-level and worked hard behind the scenes to bring it back,” said Alistair Brown, the MA’s policy officer.
“It is positive that it is looking to increase arts education provision in state schools. But there is more to do in terms of bringing people into the arts. Art history only plays a small part in that.”
The inquiry has found that while 62% of respondents said that fulfilling a civic role is an important or very important part of organisational missions, only 32% said that the idea of a civic role had been discussed at board level.
The interim briefing stated: “This suggests that while many arts organisations are demonstrating a civic role, it’s not something that’s examined or discussed and therefore may not be approached strategtically.
“Some concern has emerged about our attempt to establish a definition of the civic role of arts organisations. This is regarded as potentially reductive given the multitude of ways in which arts organisations might demonstrate and consistently reinvent their civic role.”
Brown said: “This inquiry has collected lots of evidence on how arts organisations are currently working with communities around the country.
“I hope that phase two of this project looks more closely at how civic institutions – including museums – can play a greater role in changing our towns and cities for the better, and how we can ensure that government policy works to support this.”
The inquiry will be broken into three parts: phase one looks at how arts organisations demonstrate their civic role, surveying arts organisations and interviewing key influencers; phase two will develop recommendations to support a growth in the civic role of arts organisations; and phase three will develop an implementation plan.
The phase one report is due in mid-February.
