Freelands Foundation
Selected by Freelands
read
The case for artist fellowships in art schools
A reflection on the role of the artist in UK art schools as teacher, learner, maker
Art schools in the United Kingdom have undergone extraordinary changes over the past half-century. A succession of education policies and a cultural shift in expectations for higher education have seen the situation change from almost every town and city having its own art school, to an explosion of large-scale, multi-disciplinary universities and the subsumption of the art schools into faculties within them. As recently as the early 1980s there were still an extraordinary number of small art schools operating across the country; there were once over 200 and compared to just 28 recognised universities. In 2025 there are a handful of art schools left but over 120 universities. The landscape is unrecognisable. With this new context come changes in the teaching and learning of art at higher education level. In the race for recognition on a par with academic subjects they're now situated alongside, and the clamouring for the permission to award degrees for art subjects, the structure of art courses has shifted. Prior to the amalgamation into polytechnics, at the end of the 1960s, art schools independently from universities were free to explore different ways of doing things, to develop curriculum relevant to their subjects and cohorts. In becoming part of polytechnics, and then those same polytechnics becoming universities (in 1992 the Conservative government instigated a policy enabling polytechnics to apply for university status), such permissions have been eroded. Courses have fallen into line with the other 'academic' subjects, assessments are homogenised and there is an increasing emphasis on research.
Art schools in the United Kingdom have undergone extraordinary changes over the past half-century. A succession of education policies and a cultural shift in expectations for higher education have seen the situation change from almost every town and city having its own art school, to an explosion of large-scale, multi-disciplinary universities and the subsumption of the art schools into faculties within them. As recently as the early 1980s there were still an extraordinary number of small art schools operating across the country; there were once over 200 and compared to just 28 recognised universities. In 2025 there are a handful of art schools left but over 120 universities. The landscape is unrecognisable. With this new context come changes in the teaching and learning of art at higher education level. In the race for recognition on a par with academic subjects they're now situated alongside, and the clamouring for the permission to award degrees for art subjects, the structure of art courses has shifted. Prior to the amalgamation into polytechnics, at the end of the 1960s, art schools independently from universities were free to explore different ways of doing things, to develop curriculum relevant to their subjects and cohorts. In becoming part of polytechnics, and then those same polytechnics becoming universities (in 1992 the Conservative government instigated a policy enabling polytechnics to apply for university status), such permissions have been eroded. Courses have fallen into line with the other 'academic' subjects, assessments are homogenised and there is an increasing emphasis on research.
watch
Speaking Studios
Simeon Barclay, Emii Alrai, Vivian Ross-Smith and Samra Mayanja explore their relationality to their studio spaces and the importance of the artist’s studio as a space for learning and a site for teaching.
Four artists from across the UK share their personal relationships to their studio spaces, giving voice to the importance of the artist’s studio and reflecting its role in supporting the development of artistic practice as a space for learning, and a site for teaching. Whilst each studio environment is particular to the artist (or artists) that inhabit it, as a series, the starting point for reflection in these presentations allows the artists to each engage with how architectures and infrastructures of the studio facilitate learning and teaching. This video follow the format of a ‘PechaKucha’ in which each speaker shows 20 slides for 20 seconds per slide, with each presentation lasting 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
Four artists from across the UK share their personal relationships to their studio spaces, giving voice to the importance of the artist’s studio and reflecting its role in supporting the development of artistic practice as a space for learning, and a site for teaching. Whilst each studio environment is particular to the artist (or artists) that inhabit it, as a series, the starting point for reflection in these presentations allows the artists to each engage with how architectures and infrastructures of the studio facilitate learning and teaching. This video follow the format of a ‘PechaKucha’ in which each speaker shows 20 slides for 20 seconds per slide, with each presentation lasting 6 minutes and 40 seconds.
listen
The Studio as a Site of Community and Collective Action
A conversation on the potential for studio spaces to contribute to a diverse and inclusive art world with Dr Charlotte Bonham-Carter, Dyana Gravina, Jane Morrow, and Rosalind Nashashibi.
For many artists, the studio is the essential site of artistic production. And yet, in the UK, these spaces are under-funded and under-recognised, contributing to a precarity and inequality within the sector. 'The Studio as a Site of Community and Collective Action' brings together Dr. Charlotte Bonham-Carter, Dyana Gravina, Jane Morrow, and Rosalind Nashashibi to examine the importance of the studio both in supporting practice and as an enabler of community and collective action. In particular, the conversation probes the accessibility of studio spaces, considering the role they might play in contributing to a diverse and inclusive art world.
For many artists, the studio is the essential site of artistic production. And yet, in the UK, these spaces are under-funded and under-recognised, contributing to a precarity and inequality within the sector. 'The Studio as a Site of Community and Collective Action' brings together Dr. Charlotte Bonham-Carter, Dyana Gravina, Jane Morrow, and Rosalind Nashashibi to examine the importance of the studio both in supporting practice and as an enabler of community and collective action. In particular, the conversation probes the accessibility of studio spaces, considering the role they might play in contributing to a diverse and inclusive art world.
watch
Belonging in Practice: The Artist-Teacher Residency
A 2025 film by Kit Vincent exploring Dianne Minnicucci’s time as the resident artist-teacher at Thomas Tallis School. Part of Autograph’s Visible Practice Residency.