Project call “Artists in the classroom”

Our artists and young people have been heavily affected by the corona crisis, with the entire arts sector having come to a standstill last year. There are endless reports about our young people having a hard time. Art and culture can offer them perspective. With the project call Artists in the Classroom, Flemish Community Commission (VGC) members Pascal Smet and Sven Gatz want to let artists, students and teachers work together and give art a clear place within the school walls and hours.

Our artists and young people have been heavily affected by the corona crisis, with the entire arts sector having come to a standstill last year. There are endless reports about our young people having a hard time. Art and culture can offer them perspective. With the project call Artists in the Classroom, Flemish Community Commission (VGC) members Pascal Smet and Sven Gatz want to let artists, students and teachers work together and give art a clear place within the school walls and hours.

“We hope to leave COVID behind in the new school year and put artists back to work. We want to turn our Brussels classrooms into creative spaces where our youth can get inspired by artists. This way, we continue to support our Brussels talent and we ensure the art scene of tomorrow. Our youth should be given the opportunity to come into contact with art while at school. They need space to use their imagination, more than ever. They deserve to develop their own voice and get the chance to nurture their talents,” says Pascal Smet, VGC college member for Culture and Youth. We willen onze Brusselse klassen omtoveren tot creatieve ruimtes waar jongeren geprikkeld worden door kunstenaars. We versterken zo verder ons Brussels talent en verzekeren het kunstenveld van morgen. Onze jongeren moeten de kans krijgen om tijdens de schooltijd in contact te komen met kunst. Ze hebben nood aan zuurstof en verbeelding, zeker nu. Ze moeten hun eigen stem leren vormen en de kans krijgen hun talent te ontwikkelen,” zegt Pascal Smet, VGC-collegelid bevoegd voor Cultuur en Jeugd.  

"“With this initiative, we both want to support the broad arts sector in Brussels and to get young people enthusiastic about art and culture. So I care a lot about this project. Research has indeed shown that it is very important to give children and young people a taste of art as early as possible. The earlier this happens, the more they want to keep enjoying art later on,” says Sven Gatz, VGC college member for Education and Schools.

The project call

Brussels artists, artists’ collectives and arts organisations can submit an application for an art project in collaboration with a Dutch-speaking secondary school in Brussels. The application must be submitted at least 3 months before the start of the project, the earliest start date being 15 September 2021. There are no fixed submission dates. A jury will give its advice on the files.

VGC college members Pascal Smet and Sven Gatz are providing a total budget of € 500,000 for the next two school years, with a maximum of 10,000 euros per project. At least 80 % of the grant will go to the artist's wage.

Lasso, the Brussels platform for cultural participation, supports the project and is part of the steering committee and the jury. It will also take care of the communication and inspiration sessions for the art and education sector and will document the programme.

Soon, the steering committee will appoint a matchmaker, who will inspire the artists and schools to jointly develop a tailor-made project. All the information on the project call can be found here. Do you have questions about the initiative? Or would you like to listen again to how everything works? On Tuesday 11 May at 11.30 a.m. there will be a digital information session. 

Register here. hier

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