The National Gallery's art classes for children in care

London's museums and art galleries are free and open to all.  Children up to the age of 16 can travel for free on London buses.  Result in theory: any child in care can go and enjoy some of the nation's most fabulous treasures.  Result in practice: many feel that galleries are not for them, that they'd be thrown out, or that the contents are irrelevant and elitist.   

Emma Rehm is the National Gallery's Outreach Officer.  It's her job to run sessions for people who might otherwise feel excluded - including cared-for children.  

She says 'you musn't underestimate the barriers for people.  We had a group who came down from Leytonstone and some of them were amazed - they'd never been to central London before.  They'd become completely trapped in their own neighbourhoods.'

The age range tends to be from 12 - 18. For three or four days, the teenagers learn about half a dozen paintings, then work with a professional artist and a professional lecturer.  They are also given high quality materials to produce their own artistic response.

Rehm says 'what I'll say about all these kids is that they really respect and value the experience.  They say it's really nice being asked what they think, because that doesn't often happen.  Even if they don't like the National Gallery's kind of art, we hope it'll be a springboard so they feel they can walk into the Tate, or the British Museum and that they have a right to do that.'

She notes that even children who have difficulty learning in traditional school settings enjoy the sessions.  'For some, you might have to teach in shorter time spans or they lose concentration, but a lot of these kids are really articulate.  

A few weeks after we ran the last session, we held a display of their work in our Education Centre and they all came back for the opening night.  They could still remember all kinds of things that we taught - "oh yes, that's the painting with Philip IV of Spain". Of course it's not very important whether they remember Philip IV, but the point is that the classes meant something to them and that's why the information stuck.'

Rehm says that the difference in life experience sometimes affects children in care.  'You have an expectation of what an eight or fifteen year old is like but sometimes they knock away those assumptions.  You often get children who are very, very grown up in some respects, very streetwise, but in others they are young for their age'.  

'What users value about coming here is really good quality materials - wire, clay, gilding.  These are processes that they wouldn't get to do at school.  And if they discover a real flair for art then they can start building a portfolio.  But that's not the main point - it's great to see the way everyone picks up social skills, confidence and builds self-esteem.'

Want to know more? 

http://www.nationalgallery.org.uk- more about the National Gallery

www.nationalgallery.org.uk/education/outreach - the Gallery's outreach work 

Place2Be - a charity supporting children's emotional wellbeing in schools, who have recently worked with the National Gallery