Polly Brant is an artist-educator interested in art as common – ‘something shared by people and open for public use’. Her work spans publication, writing, digital practice and textiles, and is often produced in and with galleries and community spaces. In her practice, Polly emphasises the importance of creative education beyond the formal education system, urging for it to become part of our social infrastructure and everyone’s everyday life.
Through this short film, Polly reflects on her collaborations with primary and secondary school students, and explores how the use of everyday materials is key to dismantling barriers for the working class within art education. The film focuses on her publication-making practice, which she anchors by saying, ‘making books collaboratively allows for sharing processes and ideas.’ This approach shifts learning from ‘do it yourself’ to ‘do it together’ and proposes book-making as a tool for collaboration through material processes.
SHIFT: Polly Brant
Artist educator Polly Brant emphasises practice as lifelong learning in this short film, while discussing making publications, materiality through collaboration and dismantling barriers for working-class primary and secondary school students.
Art education is like a rhizome in the way that it stretches out, grows and moves like roots. It intertwines the past, present and future through creating moments of reflection, application and imagination.
About the artist
Polly Brant is an artist-educator who uses facilitation to connect different practices, collections and places with communities and to make art accessible. This happens within projects, often produced with galleries and community spaces, critically emphasising the importance of creative education and relationships between art spaces, artists and community.
Polly’s past projects and collaborations include Ikon Gallery, Warwick Arts Centre, Wolverhampton Art Gallery and The Barber Institute of Fine Arts.
About this film
This film is part of SHIFT – Freelands Foundation’s seasonal series of short films spotlighting varied practices, approaches and philosophies within art education.
All audiovisual material, images and research is courtesy of the artist.
Captions and editing by Sixbetween.
© Freelands Foundation, 2026