Making a difference: The Arts Society and Art History Link-Up

A grant from The Arts Society has helped Art History Link-Up provide free accredited Art History courses for young people.

Quentin Newark Photographs

At a time when arts education is in crisis, one organisation is determined to make the field of Art History more accessible. Since 2016, education charity Art History Link-Up has provided free accredited Art History courses for sixth form state-supported students, which are taught in museums and galleries. Every Saturday during term time – pre-pandemic – around 40 students assemble at The Wallace Collection and The National Gallery to work towards Art History A-level exams and an Art History Extended Project Qualification (EPQ), which is an independent research task equivalent to half an A level. 

For many of the students, one of the highlights of the programme is having the opportunity to study art up close in a gallery setting. ‘We use the galleries as a way to expand and enhance learning, and that’s why the students learn so much so quickly,’ Rose Aidin, CEO and founder of Art History Link-Up, explains. ‘Our students receive first-rate teaching from experienced teachers and are able to talk about what they’ve learnt in the context of a real work of art.’ Students also receive access to networking events with experts from across the arts world, as well as work experience opportunities. 

Flo Brooks Photos

In autumn 2019, Art History Link-Up received a £3,000 grant from the Patricia Fay Memorial Fund. The funding has enabled the organisation to run a weekly homework club after class, with students receiving additional learning support from Art History postgraduate students. During lockdown, the study session was transferred online, which provided students with two hours of extra teaching every week. ‘Lots of the students told us it was the only direct teaching they were getting because their own schools had closed, and they weren’t able to offer online provisions,’ Rose says. Despite the difficulties around awarding A-level grades this summer, Rose explains that all the students on the course achieved their first-choice universities, and seven received places at Oxbridge. ‘We could not be more grateful for The Arts Society’s support of our work,’ she says. 

‘We know from our students that the experience of studying Art History with us is life-changing for them.’ 

In response to the coronavirus crisis, Art History Link-Up is currently offering online courses with the aim of pivoting to hybrid courses for the 2020–21 academic year, with some students taught entirely online, and others taught in museums and galleries (public health regulations and gallery conditions permitting). The new approach has enabled the organisation to expand class numbers, offering its courses to more than 80 students from across the UK. ‘Over 60% of the new cohort are from “widening participation backgrounds”, such as those who receive free school meals or have a parent who has not attended further or higher education,’ Rose says. ‘Over 40% of our new students are BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) and over half are based outside London.’ She adds, ‘We know from our students that the experience of studying Art History with us is life-changing for them.’ 

Quentin Newark Photographs

Feedback from the students has been overwhelmingly positive. Comments such as ‘you have instilled a love of art in me that I will cherish forever’ and ‘this course has encouraged me to see myself in the arts world and that my voice is worthy’ highlight the organisation’s transformative impact. There has been more good news too. In October, several of the students won top prizes in ‘Write on Art’, a national writing competition for students aged 15–18, sponsored by cultural charity Art UK and the Paul Mellon Centre.

With the status of the arts under threat in schools and society, Rose explains that the study of Art History has never been more important. ‘Art History is very synoptic and pulls together different ways of thinking and looking at the world, but it also gives you empathy.’ She is especially grateful to the supporters, partners, funders and donors who have backed the organisation’s vision to make Art History available to everyone. ‘It makes all the difference,’ she says.

FIND OUT MORE

For more information about Art History Link-Up, visit arthistorylinkup.org

To support the initiative, visit arthistorylinkup.org

Current funders include The Arts Society, The Rothschild Foundation and James Allen’s Girls’ School