| 3 July 2003 CHILDREN DEPRIVED OF SPACE FOR ART , NEW REPORT FINDS The Clore Duffield Foundation publishes today Space for Art , the final report and recommendations based on a two year study of art-making and exploration spaces in schools , galleries and museums throughout the UK , on Children 's Art Day , Thursday 3 July . Space for Art is a practical handbook for teachers and educators in galleries and museums , to help them fight for the kind of creative spaces they need . It highlights the lack of resources and attention to detail given to art-education spaces , with senior management and architects still failing to understand the practical requirements of such spaces . Sally Bacon , Director of the Clore Duffield Foundation , comments : " I have been led round tiny spaces and been informed that a full class - in excess of 30 children - could work within them quite happily . Architects ' drawings sometimes blithely reinforce this impossibility . We want gallery and museum staff to have some clear guidance on dimensions to prevent this state of affairs from carrying on . " Space for Art explores the full range of issues surrounding such spaces , from the development process and working with architects to location and dimensions , storage and display , usage and management and services . Attention to detail and practical considerations are central to the success , or failure , of spaces . Too many educators have to fight for the basics : " One room gained black-out facilities this summer , the other one still has n't ( 8 years of asking ) . " Even temperature control is not a given : " The children work with their coats on due to the cold and wash equipment and hands in cold water . Most of my time and energy is spent trying to change the environment . " As one teacher sums it up : " generally premises are not suitable for creativity . " Technology and planning for change are vital issues , but despite significant recent investment in IT and ICT , many schools , galleries and museums still report inadequate provision . Access to the Internet in the vast majority of secondary school art education spaces is either restricted ( 69 % ) or impossible ( 24 % ) . Work with art-based software packages is also very limited ( 76 % ) or out of the question ( 18 % ) . Gallery educators report similar difficulties : almost three-quarters ( 72 % ) say that access to the Internet or working with art-based software is poor or restricted . Practice in primary schools is also restricted in photography ( 73 % ) , ceramics ( 63 % ) , and textiles ( 77 % ) . The report 's findings and recommendations for the future are at the heart of the Clore Duffield Foundation 's concerns as the founder of Children 's Art Day and the creator of Artworks : Young Artists of the Year Awards , as well as a funder of education spaces within galleries and museums . PRESS ENQUIRIES ERICA BOLTON/JANE QUINN 020 7221 5000 Notes to Editors : Space for Art is the result of a two-year research project devised , managed and funded by the Clore Duffield Foundation as part of its Artworks programme . The project has been run in partnership with Arts Council England , the Department for Education and Skills ( DfES ) , the Heritage Lottery Fund , the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority ( QCA ) , and others . The Clore Duffield Foundation carried out a wide-ranging consultative exercise to gather data , experiences and opinions on the ideal art education space . This included a series of focus groups with gallery staff , art teachers , architects , artists and pupils ; a questionnaire sent to 2000 art teachers ; a questionnaire sent to 845 galleries and museums ; workshops with children ; focus groups with architects ( the latter organised and funded by Arts Council England ) as well as in-depth case studies of art education spaces in 11 schools and ten galleries , in consultation with managers and users of the spaces , including gallery educators , artists , teachers , pupils and architects . These case studies were drawn from across the UK and spanned national and local-authority galleries , and state , independent , early years , primary , secondary and special schools in urban and rural environments . The full text of all 21 case studies , along with the full Space for Art report and background material from the research , can be found in the research section of the Artworks website : www . a rt-works . o rg . u k . Printed copies of the report are available from the Clore Duffield Foundation at a cost of £ 5.00 , including post and packing . Email cloreduffield@aol . c om for details . |