Council extends craft options for Scottish schoolchildren

IFACCA/Artshub, 25 August 2004,United Kingdom

A new £150,000 initiative by the Scottish Arts Council will raise awareness of contemporary crafts in schools throughout Scotland in the coming year. The initiative is an extension of the Council’s existing Crafts Residencies in Schools programme. Boosted by a successful inaugural year in 2003, the programme has be widened to an additional 14 local authorities in a bid to stimulate a new generation of Scottish craftspeople. As part of the initiative, 25 crafts professionals will undertake residencies that will cover more than 75 primary and secondary schools in Scotland, allowing children to participate in a number of crafts activities ranging from ceramics and textiles to glass-making and woodcraft. Teachers from the participating schools will also have the opportunity to refresh their craft skills. Helen Bennett, Head of Crafts at the Scottish Arts Council, says: ‘When teachers across Scotland have responded so enthusiastically to the opportunity to host a crafts residency, it is satisfying to have been able to extend the programme for the coming school year. By engaging with 14 different local authorities, we are enabling school communities from Shetland to Dumfries and Galloway to have a practicing craftsperson working amongst them.’ ‘The over-arching aim of the programme is to get young people interested in the processes of designing and making. In many of the residencies the pupils will be involved right from the start, participating in the selection process by shortlisting candidates, looking at artist’s portfolios, or actually sitting on the interview panel. We hope the outcome will be young people who more appreciative of the creativity of professional craftspeople and the potential of crafts as a career option.’ For further information, CLICK HERE.

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