Art Teachers Connect originated out of a conversation between Abigail Harrison Moore (then Head of the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies) Trevor Horsewood (then Campaigns Manager for the Association for Art History), and Sarah Philips (then a teacher of art history at a large sixth form college, commissioned to write the new Art History A Level). 

We came together through our concern for the future of our subject, our shared ambition to diversify art history and our aim to enable teachers to share thinking through art practice in our new studio, technical and seminar spaces in the School of Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies. 

Our resolve was boosted when Anne-Louise Quinton (then an art teacher in Bradford) came to our first ‘teachers conference’ and asked the vital question – How can we support teachers by enabling them to be creative in our studios and classrooms on campus?

With initial funding from the Association for Art History, we developed and delivered our first three-day residential programme. Using the title ‘Plan, Prepare, Provide’, we hoped we could convince leadership teams to release their art teachers from school on the promise that they would return with most of their planning complete for the next year.

Drawing together a group of incredible tutors, including Susan Coles, and by spreading the word through the National Society for Education in Art and Design, and the All Parliamentary Party Group for Art, Craft and Design in Education, we welcomed our first 30 art and art history teachers to campus. 

Year on year we have learnt and grown from our community. When our teachers asked for accreditation, we developed a Postgraduate Certificate in Teachers Research and Practice. When Covid hit and we could not deliver our planned residential, we moved online, and this inspired the digital CPD sessions we delivered across the year – getting more ideas, resources and support to our teachers on a regular basis.

In 2020 we connected with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, who recognised the need to support teachers in order to foster future generations of art historians, artists and curators. The Centre committed to funding the programme for three years (2020-2022), and following this has recently committed to funding the programme for a further three years (2023-2026).

As we move forward we are constantly thinking about how to best support our community of teachers, and ultimately support creative futures for all.