Have Some Imagination: Towards a manifesto for arts education (Sold Out)

Presented by Baltic and Northumbria University, this two-day international conference will address the transformational value of creative learning for envisioning and sustaining collective futures.

As a result of educational policy changes and the impact of austerity on arts spending over recent decades, the delivery of arts education in schools, colleges, and universities has been pitched into an unprecedented crisis. Across geo-political contexts, a narrowly financialised discourse of the arts has come to predominate in public culture, often making arts education seem unworthy when contrasted with disciplines with supposedly better monetised outcomes and job prospects.

The conference will feature an array of performative lectures, round tables and interactive workshops designed to ignite meaningful dialogue, innovative thinking and strategise for an arts education of tomorrow. Together, we can envision and create a more inclusive, imaginative, and impactful landscape for arts education, ensuring that every voice is heard, and every perspective is valued.

The full conference schedule, including keynotes, activities and detailed session times will be announced in early January 2025. Lunch and refreshments provided.

The event is sold out. If you are no longer able to attend the conference please return your ticket or contact us on communicationsteam@balticmill.com

‍Friday 7 February 2025, Panels & Speakers

Education for creative industries

• Emma Coffield & Katie Markham
• Tamsyn Dent & Tessa Read
• Dave O'Brien
• Kate Shorvon

*Experimental cultures: then and now

• Robin Deacon
• Kate Sloan
• James Bell

*How does an artist learn?

• Graham Ellard
• Hestia Peppe
• Judith Winter
• Claudette Davis-Bonnick

*Imagining alternative worlds

• Ruth Beale & Natasha Bird
• Melisa Maida & Bex Mather
• Steve Klee
• Lizzie Lovejoy

Learning in cultural institutions

• Chris Roberts & Gabriel Birch
• Emma McGarry & Amy McKelvie
• Dawn Bothwell
• Rebecca Huggan

Performance Lecture

• Richard Allen
• Corin Sworn
• Owen Parry & Marc Hulson

*Rethinking national curricula

• Mim Monk & Fiona Crouch
• Bex Harvey
• Beverley Briggs
• Jill Duncan

The neoliberal academy

• Amelia Jones & Benjamin Nicholson
• Campbell Edinborough
• Tero Nauha

Workshop

• Moyra Derby & Flora Parrott (Distraction in Action)
• Helen Burns
• Adrian Kear, Richard Allen and Sian Rees

*Taking place on Fri 7 and Sat 8 with different speakers

‍Saturday 8 February 2025, Panels & Speakers

Arts education for whom?

• Tanveer Ahmed & Jane Trowell
• Lucas Ferguson-Sharp
• Edwin Mingard

Arts education toward criminal justice

• Aylwyn Walsh & Sarah Bartley
• Deirdre O'Neill
• Alice Myers

Can you draw it? Between visualcy and literacy

• Ellen O'Gorman
• Yeonjoo Cho
• Chris Koning

*Experimental cultures: then and now

• Heike Roms
• Marion Harrison
• Sarah Edith James
• Sophia Yadong Hao

Health and aesthetic education

• John Cussans
• Garry Nicholson
• Chris Bogle
• John Quinn

*How does an artist learn?

• Andrew Bracey & Laura Onions (Speculative Matterings)
• Lukasz Jastrubczak
• Kate Liston
• Oreet Ashery

*Imagining alternative worlds

• Haorui Yu
• Marianna Tsionki
• Danica Maier
• Izzy Finch

Learning from feminist archives

• Rebecca Fortnum
• Marita Fraser
• Catherine Grant
• Althea Greenan

Performance Lecture

• Beth Kurkjian
• Paul Stewart

*Rethinking national curricula

• Kara Christine & Janet McCrorie
• Mary O'Neill
• Jason E. Bowman
• Kat Cutler-MacKenzie

Roundtable

Elena Joy Miller, Matt Stalker, Louise Wicks

The value of Arts education

• Pauline Moger & Sophie Ward
• Lorraine Yang
• Victoria Jaquiss

Workshop

• Dean Kenning & David Burrows
• Sarah Bailey & Kate Houlton (Heart of Glass)
• Judy Thomas & Florence Darling

*Taking place on Fri 7 and Sat 8 with different speakers

Questions about the conference should be sent to ronniem@balticmill.com