Widening Participation in the Arts,

What next?

The second annual National Arts Learning Network conference took place at the Royal Institute of British Architects on the 4th and 5th February 2008. Over 200 delegates attended and feedback so far has been overwhelmingly positive. 

 

 

Transcripts of all key-note presentations can be downloaded here:

  NALN conference transcript Day 1  

  NALN conference transcript Day 2

Dr Orlando Taylor, from Howard University, gave the inaugural Sheila Soul-Gray Memorial Lecture, in memory of NALN's founding Director. Sheila's family were guests of honour at the conference. Dr Taylor spoke of the need for a diverse faculty staff in higher education institutions, in order to provide role models, influence admissions processes and support a more diverse student body. He asked how excellence can be achieved without diversity.  

Karin Woodley spoke about the new Stephen Lawrence Centre, officially opened on the 7th February 2008, which was established in memory of Stephen Lawrence, the victim of a racist attack. The centre aims to be 'a laboratory for developing new ways to support disadvantaged young people, and new best-practice models for national dissemination'.

Suzanne Lacy, performance artist and academic, gave a powerful description of the work she has done with marginalised groups, by creating pieces of performance art that tackle issues such as perceptions of youth and youth culture, middle-aged women, and intergenerational communication.

Students from NALN member institutions spoke about their experiences of progressing to higher education, through widening participation schemes such as progression agreements and summer schools.

 

 

Delegates were able to see their work in an exhibition, and the students also had a private audience with Grayson Perry, Patron of NALN, to talk about their work.

Aileen McEvoy introduced the Arts Council England's new Higher Education Strategy, and Ursula Hudson from London College of Fashion talked about how a consortium of institutions are contributing towards the Cultural Olympiad. 

The NALN Conference Dinner also took place at RIBA, with an after-dinner speech by Kwame Kwei-Armah, Actor, Playwright and Governor of University of the Arts London.

The conference included a rich variety of workshops from NALN projects and other organisations.

 

Thank you to our delegates for supporting us and making the event such a success.

Photographs copyright Alys Tomlinson.