Early Years at the Galleries of Modern Art

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Early Years at the Galleries of Modern Art

• Marie-Louise Smoor
• Schools Education Officer
• National Galleries of Scotland

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Background
Why is the Early Years (3 5 years) important to
us? Eye Spy Nursery Programme at the National
Gallery of Scotland since 2003 Eye Spy tours
free of charge Follow the Seaons Workshop - 35
for 2 hours for 12 children Tours at the Scottish
National Portrait Gallery since 2006
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Taking on the Galleries of Modern Art

• Demand from nursery providers prompted us to
  think about extending the existing programme to
  the Galleries of Modern Art.
• We felt that the different types of art displayed
  at the Galleries of Modern Art, required a
  different approach to Eye Spy.
• We also wanted to review what we knew about 3-5
  year olds needs.

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Off the Wall9 Dec 06-28 May 07
Exhibition of contemporary ceiling- and floor-
based art provided the opportunity to explore
potential with early years.
We worked with 4 Edinburgh Nursery Schools 7
artists from Music, Dance, Storytelling, Drama
and Visual Arts 2 curators 1 music educator 1
gallery educator
Each nursery came for 2 2-hour visits, lead by a
visual artist and a non-gallery artist.
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What we learned?

• Children
• Children as young as 2 years can actively engage
  in concrete and abstract learning experiences
  with modern and contemporary art.
• Children always bring their own interpretation to
  works of art and activities.
• Children are able to work with complex ideas,
  e.g. colour theory, as long as it is broken down
  into simple steps and tasks.
• Children embrace the opportunities to explore the
  art through practical making activities. They
  engaged longer with the practical activities than
  others.
• Childrens creativity increases when the
  materials are restricted.
• Design open-ended activities that encourage
  children to use their own imaginations to create
  their own outcome, and reflect varied attention
  spans.
• Artists
• Working with artists from across the arts
  music, dance, storytelling, theatre, enabled
  National Galleries of Scotland education staff to
  explore the collections in new ways.
• This also provided new professional development
  for gallery staff, as well as invited artists.

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What Next?

• August October 2007
• Warhol Nursery Workshops
• 8 2-hour sessions offered to existing
• partners and new groups.

• Art Sparks! Programme to be launched in January
  2008
• 45min-1hour tours of Dean Gallery and Gallery of
  Modern Art free of charge
• 2 hour workshops at Dean and Gallery of Modern
  Art - 35 for 12 children
• 5 March 2008 Art Sparks! Teacher Evening to
  introduce programme to teachers and invite
  constructive feedback.

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For more information, contact
Marie-Louise Smoor Schools Education
Officer National Galleries of Scotland 0131 624
6547 msmoor_at_nationalgalleries.org