Artists in Schools

For Schools / History

Artists in Schools is Carclew’s longest running program, starting in 1981 and still going today!

The program places professional artists in schools teaching students and teachers about the arts and the value of artistic expression.

From 1981-90, Artists in Schools was funded through annual grants programs from The Arts Council of SA, Australia Council and the Education Department of SA. During this period Carclew consulted with schools across the state to assist them source funding to hire a resident artist.  The Carclew Arts Education team with the individual school and resident artist would collaborate to develop a curriculum and policy encompassing the arts.

Artists in Schools continued to grow and by 1991 it became an annual Carclew coordinated program, where Carclew was able to provide schools with resident artists. Artists involved in the program include co-founder of The Adelaide Central School of Art, Anna Platten; stage & event Designer, Kathryn Sproul; and performance maker, Stephen Noonan.

In 2017, the program evolved to working with teaching artists, where Carclew developed AIS: Developing Effective Arts Learning, AIS: Creative Based Learning and Ngarrindjeri Yanun. These new programs were built with more structure around supporting the teacher and providing them with new techniques in teaching the Australian Curriculum: through incorporation of different artforms into other areas of education, such as mathematics.

Developing Effective Arts Learning and Creative Based Learning are still running today, and after running a successful pilot program, Ngarrindjeri Yanun has been developed into Carclew’s modular program Aboriginal Artists in Schools. This project is ongoing and is supported by Catholic Education South Australia, the Department for Education and Nunn Dimos Foundation.

Have you been involved in Carclew’s Artists in Schools? Tell us your story…