Chisenhale Gallery will work within Pupil Referral Units (PRUs) in Tower Hamlets, connecting two art teachers with contemporary artists over a year to explore art pedagogy in this often-overlooked environment. In a mutually enriching process, the artists will shape their practice to the setting and curricula, whilst the art teachers share expertise in working with diverse groups of young people in an unstable context. A series of ‘creative socials’ will bring together teachers from PRUs, Special Education Needs and Disabilities (SEND) and mainstream primary and secondary schools to communicate across educational silos.
Seth Pimlott, Curator of Social Practice at Chisenhale Gallery, said: “At Chisenhale, we prioritise working with young people who experience real material barriers to accessing art and culture. But with the generous support from Freelands Foundation, this programme signals a new approach, working directly with art teachers in PRUs to embed our work within institutions, leaving a legacy beyond the project’s timespan.”
Becky Warnock and OOST collective, How's the weather in your head?, 2022
Photo by Anna Howell
Chisenhale Gallery commissions and produces contemporary art, supporting international and UK-based artists to make their most ambitious work to date by pursuing new directions in their practices. They are committed to their audiences having access to the energy and ideas of an ever-expanding artist community.
Located in a dynamic and creative residential neighbourhood in the here of London's East End, where many cultures converge, Chisenhale Gallery is an evolving space for experimentation, transformed by each artist's commission.