The case for artist fellowships in art schools

The teaching, and who gets to do the teaching, has also changed. Getting some work in an art school was once the natural next step for emerging artists. Art schools were populated by a diverse community of visiting lecturers. As the painter Mali Morris remembers, “Many artists of my generation survived for years as peripatetic visiting artists in Fine Art departments. We were paid by the hour and could live on the earnings of a couple of days a week. Travelling to teach at Canterbury, Winchester, Reading, Nottingham and sometimes much further afield meant train journeys with other part-timers. This was a kind of random, ad hoc community, meeting up in the buffet car for breakfast-time coffee and drinks on the way home. Two hours was a good length of time to gossip and sometimes argue, and I got to know people whose art and thinking was unfamiliar to me. It was a good education.” (Mali Morris, Painting Royal Academy of Arts, 2019).

The requirements for being given the opportunity to teach were founded on the artists’ practice, on what they were making and whether they were exhibiting. There was no expectation that the artist should pursue a teaching qualification or doctorate. They were not perceived as academic staff. Roy Slade writes that “art education is simply artists talking about art” (Roy Slade, Accent 6 – A Personal Experience in Teaching) and much of this sessional teaching operated exactly like that. Teaching in art schools was a part of practising as an artist. For the students being taught, the access to emerging artists, a few years ahead of them, and to an exceptionally diverse diet of lecturers, was formative.  

On visiting faculties in universities today the atmosphere is very different. As higher education budgets have been squeezed, and student numbers have risen, the spaces are reducing, both literally and metaphorically. Studios, once the absolute core of a student’s experience at art school, are shrinking. In some places they have disappeared altogether, replaced by hot-desking. Workshops and technicians are becoming a luxury rather than the norm, and a programme of visiting lecturers is no longer a given.  

In spite of this, there are some outstanding examples of approaches happening. Right across the country, a sense, almost, of brilliant artists managing to develop progressive courses despite the system they find themselves operating within.  

The amalgamation into the university structure has meant a greater need for staff to contribute to the Research Excellence Framework (REF), first used in 2014. This inevitably means an academic understanding of what research entails, predominantly contributions to recognised academic journals and publications, and speaking at conferences and symposia. The emphasis is on rigorous academic research, with a demonstrable impact on society. This is more challenging to prove in the context of making art. Exhibitions and recognition for work within the art sector is rarely valued by the REF. As a result, artists working in art schools are being encouraged to produce academic research, to have lines of enquiry that fit this “box” – a value metric that doesn't apply to art, yet is imposed to merge with how other subjects are confined. 

Fellowships were once a staple element in the art school ecosystem. Opportunities to undertake a fellowship shortly after graduation were plentiful and many artists began their journey into teaching by doing so. Being a fellow gave early career artists an experience of taking on a different role in the art school, of leading workshops and tutorials and engaging in critical discourse. At the same time, it provided a secure income, for a time, and the time and space to develop their practice. Following a fellowship, many artists would join the visiting lecturer network, picking up sessional work at art schools up and down the country. These opportunities provided artists with a much-needed income, but they also created a supportive network of artists; working alongside one another and engaging in conversations with the artists coming along behind them. For the students it meant talking to different artists and having their horizons broadened. 

We spent three years researching art schools across the UK. Developing relationships with teaching staff and teams, building an understanding of what was happening where; what had changed, how different courses were structured, what the challenges were, but also where the outstanding practice was happening, in spite of the ensuing limitations.  

Following this, the Freelands Studio Fellowships were set up to address some of these challenges; in recognition of the value of having practising artists working alongside students and, at the same time, developing an access point for emerging artists to engage in teaching, without the need to pursue a PhD or academic pathway. It was also important from the outset that the Fellows had practices that were grounded in making.  

The Fellowship enables an artist to take residence in an art school for one year, giving them a studio space to work in and opportunities to teach alongside faculty. This is replicated across each of the partners, meaning currently we have eight Fellows in situ this year. Each artist is paid a bursary to ensure that they have the time to commit to the Fellowship and reduces external financial pressures. In addition, they receive mentoring and seed funding to organise programmes to enhance their learning such as exhibitions and public programmes. Finally, the Foundation commissions a text for each artist, enabling them to explore what it means to work with a writer to explore their practice for a public audience.  

Since we set up the programme, we have learnt an enormous amount. We set out with the intentions outlined above and were interested in how having a sustained, and supported, period of time to immerse themselves in their practice, whilst at the same time experiencing teaching, would impact on the artists themselves. We were interested in developing a greater understanding of how studio practice and teaching practice tessellate and operate symbiotically. We were also interested in how the presence of a fellow in the art school, a figure somewhere between a tutor and a student, would impact on the course and institution.  

One Fellow recently stated, ‘‘The programme gave me a renewed sense of confidence in my ability to bridge the gap between my artistic and teaching practices. It reaffirmed that both practices can be deeply intertwined and mutually enriching.” 

Another has reflected “The programme was invaluable for connecting me with a wider network of artists, offering opportunities for collaboration, peer learning and professional support. Being part of this community helped me gain new perspectives on my own practice, encouraged experimentation and provided a sense of belonging within a creative network. These connections continue to inspire and inform my work, and have opened doors to collaborations, exhibitions and residencies that I might not have accessed otherwise.”

Both of these assertions demonstrate the significance of this programme in answering our original intentions. Each of the Fellows is situated in a rare space between making, learning and teaching, experiencing how the porous nature of these concepts can lead to transformative thinking. They leave the programme having built a network unqiue to them and their practice, having connected to a new place and community in addition to building a UK-wide network through the partnership.  

We are continuing to develop a greater understanding of its impact and benefits. When we set out, we thought about some of the potential markers of success – considering whether a Fellow might remain at their institution after their tenure and be employed as a member of staff, especially if they weren’t in possession of the academic credentials that are proving an obstacle to such employment for many artists. To date three of the Fellows have done just that, with two now occupying lecturer positions at their respective universities, and one undertaking a technician role. Many of the others have continued to engage in teaching, whether that be through visiting lecturing (where it still exists) or on alternative education programmes such as Turps. But the most important outcomes have been the ongoing impact of this programme on the Fellows, faculty and students. As the network grows we continue to keep in touch with the artists, helping to understand how experiences such as these have ripples far beyond the lifetime of the Fellowship.