Children & the Arts

Last updated

Children & the Arts is an independent charity that provides access to professional arts venues for young people in the UK who would otherwise grow up having had no, or very limited opportunity, to engage with the arts. [1] The charity works across the United Kingdom and across a variety of art forms, working in schools and children's hospices, allowing local arts venues and children to build sustained and engaged relationships. Children & the Arts is the only children's charity working with hard to reach children to tackle inequality of access across all art forms and across the whole of the UK.

Contents

Arts venues and cultural organisations are selected to be part of Children & the Arts' national Start programme that enables them to partner with schools in local areas of deprivation - schools that have very limited arts provision for students and no connection to their cultural community. Children & the Arts provides the three-year framework, guidance and funding for arts organisations to each work with 300-500 schoolchildren every year. Children are introduced to an artform, inspired to find out more, taught how to enhance their experience of the arts through critique and teamwork and, of course, create and perform themselves.

The charity was formerly known as The Prince's Foundation for Children & the Arts and was one of the Princes Charities, and prior to that The Prince of Wales Arts & Kids Foundation. [2] It was created by another of the Prince's charities; Arts & Business (formerly the Association for Business Sponsorship of the Arts or ABSA), under the aegis of its chief executive, Colin Tweedy and launched at an event at Buckingham Palace.

Origin

Children & the Arts began when King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) visited a pupil referral unit in Balsall Heath, Birmingham.

While going round the school he saw a class studying Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" under the direction of an inspiring teacher who had roused a great response to the play from the pupils. His Royal Highness was surprised to hear that the children were studying the play without seeing it performed.

Coincidentally, the Royal Shakespeare Company was performing "Romeo and Juliet" at Stratford at the time. Being president of the Royal Shakespeare Company, Charles suggested that the class might like to go and see it. The class went and, after the performance, the cast entertained them on stage.

After the trip all of the students wrote to the Prince saying it was the best experience of their lives. As a result of this experience he decided to take action and began the process which led to the development of his Foundation for Children & the Arts. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eton College</span> Public school in Eton, Berkshire, England

Eton College is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore, making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King's College, Cambridge, Eton is particularly well known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal College of Music</span> College in Kensington and Chelsea, UK

The Royal College of Music is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including performance, composition, conducting, music theory and history, and has trained some of the most important figures in international music life. The RCM also undertakes research, with particular strengths in performance practice and performance science.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christ's Hospital</span> Public school in Horsham, West Sussex, United Kingdom

Christ's Hospital is a public school with a royal charter located to the south of Horsham in West Sussex. The school was founded in 1552 and received its first royal charter in 1553. Since its establishment, Christ's Hospital has been a charity school, with a core aim to offer children from humble backgrounds the chance of a better education.

Amanda Root is an English actress. She is perhaps best known for her starring role as Anne Elliot in the 1995 BBC adaptation of Persuasion. A familiar face on both stage and screen, she worked regularly with the Royal Shakespeare Company during her early career, performing as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, and Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, among other roles. In 2009, she was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Sarah in Alan Ayckbourn's The Norman Conquests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Old Rep</span>

The Old Rep is the United Kingdom's first ever purpose-built repertory theatre, constructed in 1913, located on Station Street in Birmingham, England. The theatre was a permanent home for Barry Jackson's Birmingham Repertory Company, formed in 1911 from his amateur theatre group, The Pilgrim Players, founded in 1907. Jackson funded the construction of the theatre and established his professional company there.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore Repertory Theatre</span>

Singapore Repertory Theatre (SRT) is a non-profit professional theatre company founded in 1993. It is located at the KC Arts Centre – Home of SRT at 20 Merbau Road, Singapore. The current artistic director is Gaurav Kripalani while its managing director is Charlotte Nors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Drawing School</span> Educational organisation school in London, England

The Royal Drawing School is a not-for-profit educational organisation and registered charity in the London Borough of Hackney in England. It was founded in 2000 by King Charles III and artist Catherine Goodman as The Prince's Drawing School and received its current name in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Colorado Shakespeare Festival</span> Shakespeare festival in Boulder, Colorado

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bibliography of Charles III</span>

The bibliography of Charles III, King of the United Kingdom and 14 other Commonwealth Realms, is a list of approximately three dozen works which the King has written, co-written, illustrated or narrated, and includes works for which he has written a foreword, introduction or preface.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumfries House</span> Palladian country house in Ayrshire, Scotland

Dumfries House is a Palladian country house located in the town of Cumnock in East Ayrshire, Scotland. It is within a large estate, around two miles (3 km) west of Cumnock. Noted for being one of the few such houses with much of its original 18th-century furniture still present, including specially commissioned Thomas Chippendale pieces, the house and estate is now owned by The Prince's Foundation, a charity which maintains it as a visitor attraction and hospitality and wedding venue. Both the house and the gardens are listed as significant aspects of Scottish heritage.

Please note: Shakespeare Schools Festival became Shakespeare Schools Foundation in 2016. The Festival is the charity's flagship project.

The Swaminarayan School was a private Hindu school, the first in Europe. It was located in Neasden, London opposite the Swaminarayan Mandir, Hindu temple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Prince's School of Traditional Arts</span>

The Prince's Foundation School of Traditional Arts is a school in London that teaches students at the postgraduate degree level, through short open courses and in the community. The school was founded in 2005 by King Charles III as part of The Prince's Charities group, with the aim "to continue the living traditions of the world's sacred and traditional art forms".

The Nashville Shakespeare Festival is a Shakespeare festival in Nashville, Tennessee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The British School, Kathmandu</span> Private international school in Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Nepal

The British School is a private international school in Sanepa, Kathmandu, Bagmati Province, Nepal. It was established in 1966 to serve the British community but is an inclusive school which has over 40 different nationalities and over 500 students as of 2020. The British school offers education from foundation up to Year 13.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poet in the City</span> London-based arts organisation


Poet in the City is a London-based arts organisation founded in 1998 as a project of the Poetry Society; it became an independent charity in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Uxbridge High School, London</span> Converter academy in Hillingdon, London, England

Uxbridge High School is a mixed secondary school with academy status in west London in the town of Uxbridge.

Fernando Rodriguez Montaño is a Colombian dancer who performs internationally having previously been a soloist with the Royal Ballet, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London until December 2020. On November 19, 2015, he made his debut in a principal role when he performed 'the lover' in The Two Pigeons.

Melbourne City Ballet was a ballet company based in Melbourne, Australia. The company was founded in 2013 by artistic director Michael Pappalardo and experienced significant growth throughout the years. Originally created as a neoclassical/contemporary project based company, Melbourne City Ballet developed quickly to become a full-time operating arts organisation with an increasing focus bring classical ballet works to regional and remote communities across Australia. Melbourne City Ballet was a registered charity with the Australian Charity & Not for Profit Commission under the name MCB Incorporated and was overseen by a board of professionals. MCB seized operations in July 2019 due to lack of funding.

References

  1. "Charles, the Prince of arts". The Daily Telegraph . 8 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-08-29.
  2. The Times [ dead link ]
  3. "Charles, the Prince of arts". The Daily Telegraph . 8 November 2008. Archived from the original on 2021-08-29.