Case study


Art attack: Pupils from Caistor High School worked with Seachange Arts to manage and promote a performance by Rogue Theatre (right)


Many will make their performance or


exhibition space available when it is not otherwise needed, and some venues run performance evenings especially for young people to take part. In addition to the more obvious


activities, there is other expertise on which students and teacher can draw. Arts companies will often have a dedicated marketing manager whose insights and expertise are very specifi c to the creative world. Evaluation and monitoring is also a strength of the arts sector – it is something which has to be done continually by companies which receive public funding. Teachers may wish to consider approaching arts companies with requests about these areas of work. It is also worth checking out individual


artists who are based in the area. Many artists work as freelancers, and even if they do have links with arts companies or galleries, will often maintain their own practice including education work. It is not uncommon for an actor or musician to perform regularly as a freelancer with a recognised company, to run their own company doing small-scale or fringe work, and to run schools’ workshops as well.


‘


Diffi culties T ere are many potential “up-sides” to these partnerships. However, there are also issues which both schools and employers have to face up to.


schedules and other essential work.


However, many arts organisations will work over a wide area geographically, and there are those which specialise in touring to rural areas. Another issue is – inevitably – money.


Unlike the wider industrial sector, including parts of the creative sector such as architecture, the arts has no Corporate Social Responsibility as such. It is not simply a matter of seconding a member of staff to a project for two weeks, free of charge. Even in the most famous and highly-


regarded arts companies, the performing artists may all be freelancers, while galleries rarely employ artists directly, other than for specifi c projects, so their time needs to be paid for. In addition, most are surviving on low


income, including public funding and donations as well as box offi ce. Most (and this may be a surprise to some)


are registered charities. T ere is a good side to this – they may be receiving funding that subsidises their education work. However, many of their activities only


Work-related learning as a whole is a concept that arts organisations can sometimes struggle with: the Creative and Media Diploma may be a way of opening it up to more potential partners


T e fi rst is one of scale. Some 57 per cent of


the creative and cultural industries are based in London. Many cities and large towns are reasonably well provided for, with perhaps a theatre or an arts centre and a few arts-based companies. T at still leaves large swathes of the country, especially rural areas, struggling to fi nd anyone to link up with. Even then, the amount of educational activity


that arts organisations can do is limited by their budgets and capacity – it is usually not a mainstream activity and must be fi tted around rehearsals, tours, performance or exhibition


Delivering Diplomas • Volume 2 No 2 Autumn 2010


happen if somebody pays for them. Our understanding from guest speakers


We have developed a Full Cost Recovery model as part of the NSA commission, which arts organisations can use to show schools the direct and indirect cost of activities, and the extent to which they may be being subsidised by, for example, the Arts Council, charitable trusts or local government.


Motivation


Why should schools and colleges seek out arts organisations to work with on the CMD? Principally, it’s a matter of impact and quality of learning.


Students who have collaborated with real-life


professionals have reported that the experience is much more motivating and exciting than simulated projects – when a teacher invents a brief and presents it as though from a professional organisation. At our seminar, students who gave presentations about their projects were absolutely clear on this: there was no substitute for having to answer to an outside organisation, a professional mentor or taskmaster who expected a fi nished product (whether a video, a report or an event) by a specifi c date and to a certain standard. One student said he was on the verge of


dropping out before this experience. He is now aiming for, and likely to get, a Creative Apprenticeship with the arts organisation he worked with. T e work students do on the CMD is


during our meetings was that schools do have budgets for this kind of work, although the individual teachers we were dealing with might not always be aware of them. T is is likely to change for the worse now


that the government has decided to leave the future of the Diploma to market forces. However, schools and colleges should ask


’


themselves whether suffi cient status and funding is being given to this kind of activity, given its value.


transferable, and can support a range of future careers such as event management, tourism, hospitality, and so on. It is also possible to look for creative or artistic placements within organisations which are not, on the face of it, in the arts sector. Many large businesses have creative departments such as marketing, advertising and communications where creative projects – perhaps connected with website design or video-making – can take place. Most of all, it is clear that the arts sector can be a powerful partner in young people’s learning, helping them to mature and develop personally, practically and academically. DD


• Catherine Rose is acting director of Arts Inform, which creates work-related learning projects in collaboration with the arts and education sectors.


Further information T e project was commissioned by the National Skills Academy for Creative and Cultural. To access the resources created, visit www.nsa-ccskills.co.uk For more information on Arts Inform, visit www.artsinform.com


17


Photo: Ollie Oakenshield


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