Opening Doors: Learning in the Historic Environment

Section E · Changing approaches to learning

E 12 · Art activities and creativity

One of the most positive developments in the use of historic buildings for learning over the past thirty years is the way they have provided inspiration for a range of creative activities. The importance of creativity within learning is increasingly recognised, for example in the important document Inspiring Learning for All, published by the Museums, Libraries and Archives Council in 2004. Creative thinking skills are now required within the National Curriculum in England. Historic sites have a major contribution to make to the process of encouraging learning at all ages. The following examples suggest some of the ways in which they are already involved.

Drama

One of the earliest examples of this development was the National Trust Youth Theatre, set up in the 1970s, in which the performers created plays inspired by individual houses. The National Trust has organised a variety of activities on these lines, including the performance of plays by George Bernard Shaw at his house in Hertfordshire. Many of the special events organised by the National Trust similarly reanimate the properties where they take place – such as the summer festivals, including fireworks, costume, dancing and period boats on the lake, at Stourhead.

Literary creativity

Young Cultural Creators is a visual literacy project for young people, which explores original works of art, objects and documents through links to the work of children’s writers and illustrators, inspiring young people’s creativity in reading, writing and illustration. The project involves schools working with museums, archives and libraries across the capital. Operating under the aegis of the London Libraries Development Agency for two years, the scheme has been resoundingly successful.

Visual art

Organisations which have been working closely with museums for some time are now beginning to explore the potential of historic sites. The Campaign for Drawing (run by the Guild of St George) in 2004 completes Phase 1 of the Big Draw, a four-year programme of events at sites, notably museums, all over the UK. The campaign, and its linked schools activities, aims to involve as many people as possible in the process of drawing, inspired by John Ruskin’s belief in its power to increase skills of perception and communication. Phase 2, run in collaboration with the National Trust, the Campaign for Learning and other organisations, will concentrate exclusively on heritage sites, including railways and waterways, historic buildings, gardens, churches, wildlife sites and archives.

Music

In terms of music, the historic environment has a great deal to offer in giving young people (and the same might apply to older ones) the opportunity to understand that music is made for many different contexts: cathedrals, temples and mosques, great houses, parlours, concert halls. At Belton House, the National Trust has addressed one of the most difficult issues, bringing manuscripts to life. Out of Silence, held at Belton in 2001, was a project designed for adult learners and initiated by the Arts Council of England in association with the Regional Arts Board. Seventeenth and eighteenth century leather-bound music books belonging to ladies of the Brownlow family were used as the starting point for new songs, the formation of a choir, live performances and a CD.

At Newhailes, close to Edinburgh, the National Trust (NTS) for Scotland organised in 2004 a project called Below Stairs at Newhailes, in which ten people with a background in service at the house or in the service industries collaborated with a photographer to produce photographs based on their work experiences, leading to an exhibition exploring the visibility of servants and ‘the more hidden history of the house with particular attention to its domestic service history’.

Displaying contemporary art

Some country houses have been active in promoting contemporary art. For example, in 2002, Andy Goldsworthy, the sculptor, and Langlands and Bell created a series of works at Petworth House. They became artists in residence to celebrate the restoration of the Carved Room and the reinstallation of Turner’s oils. The Art Newspaper (August 2002) wrote that ‘this sets a marvellous precedent for injecting new life and art into the time capsule that an historic house inevitably becomes’. Belsay House in Northumberland, a ruined Neoclassical house run by English Heritage, has an established tradition of displaying contemporary art in its large empty rooms: in the summer of 2004 the exhibition shows Britain’s top fashion designers including Paul Smith, Stella McCartney and Zandra Rhodes, with lingerie from Agent Provocateur.

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'We are the guardians of the past and the trustees of the future. So I am delighted that the heritage sector has taken up the challenge I set to provide the hard facts to place the historic environment at the heart of contemporary life. As Heritage Counts demonstrates yet again, millions of us choose to live, work and relax in historic buildings and landscapes. So I want to involve communities more directly in how they are best safeguarded and preserved.'
The Rt Hon Tessa Jowell MP , Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport.