Children’s University helps school pupils discover prestigious art show

The University of Wolverhampton Children’s University team have been working with Arts Connect on British Art Show 9 (BAS9), which is opening in Wolverhampton in March 2021.

Arts Connect is supporting up to 300 pupils from selected primary schools across the Black Country to take part in, and achieve, their Arts Award Discover certificate by engaging with BAS9.

Arts Connect, the Arts Council England Bridge organisation for the West Midlands which is part of the University’s Faculty of Arts, Business and Social Sciences, supports communities across the West Midlands, to enable children and young people (from 0-25) to enjoy a rich and meaningful arts and cultural life. Arts Connect work with 500 education partners and 1,700 teachers, 300 arts and cultural organisations as well as 150 artists across the Midlands region.

Arts Award Discover is an introductory award, designed for ages 5 to 11 years, but is also open to young people up to 25 years old.

To achieve Arts Award Discover certification, children and young people collect evidence in an individual arts log of their experiences of participating in arts activities, researching artists and their work and sharing their arts discoveries.

The British Art Show is presented by Hayward Gallery Touring every 4 years and it is the biggest touring exhibition of contemporary art in the UK and widely acknowledged as the most important recurrent exhibition of contemporary art produced in this country, unrivalled in its ambition, scope and national reach.

Wolverhampton has been selected as the opening city for BAS9. The exhibition will travel to Wolverhampton Art Gallery and the Wolverhampton School of Art (6 March - 30 May 2021), before it heads to Aberdeen (3 July - 3 October 2021), Plymouth (6 November 2021 - 13 March 2022) and Manchester (6 May - 4 September 2022).