Our Annual Schools Exhibition opens this month, and its colourful, joyful displays are a reminder of the vital part that art plays in the lives of children and young people. Creativity, innovation, self-expression – so many good things in life can start with early experiences of art.
Yet access to art is under threat. As school budgets are tightened, we are seeing an increasing need for our art education programme, but also a significant gap between schools that can afford art and creative activities and those that can’t.
For example, it can cost around £250 to hire a coach to bring one class to visit The Burton – this is prohibitive for the many rural schools in this area.
We believe the impact of early art experiences can last a lifetime, and that free access to art can help to bridge the inequality gap and rural isolation faced by children and young families in North Devon. Our new Burton Futures campaign, being launched this month as part of the Big Give, will remove economic barriers to ensure that more local young people can engage with world-class art as part of their education.
The money raised during the Big Give Week (18–25 March) will fund bursaries to schools across North Devon who otherwise wouldn’t be able to visit The Burton. These bursaries will finance coach hire and artist-led workshops for classes visiting the gallery, or support The Burton Art Box to visit schools with artist-led sessions. The Burton Teachers Network will support teachers to develop new skills, confidence and ideas on how to connect their pupils to art.
All donations doubled
The Big Give’s Arts for Impact campaign aims to support arts and culture charities working to achieve societal impact across the UK. Any donations you make to our campaign via the Big Give website between 18–25 March will be doubled by the Big Give’s Arts for Impact match fund. So if you donate £50 our Burton Futures campaign will receive £100. This will enable us to help twice as many children and young people.
We have set our fundraising target as £5,000, which will then be matchfunded to reach £10,000. This will be used to help children, schools and young families access art over the next 12-months by providing:
- £4,000 of bursaries for schools in North Devon to visit The Burton for a workshop led by an artist
- £4,000 of bursaries for The Burton Art Box to visit schools in North Devon with an artist to lead workshops
- £2,000 to support The Burton Teacher’s Network, a group that supports teachers in North Devon to engage in peer-learning and professional development to help embed art and creative activities in teaching practices for years to come
Make sure you keep an eye on our social media (Instagram/Facebook @burtonatbideford) for updates on the Burton Futures campaign, and visit our Burton Futures campaign donation page on the Big Give website.
A huge thank you to Jacob Blease, part of The Burton Youth Collective, for designing the brilliant Burton Futures logo. You can see more of Jacob’s art on Instagram at @jacob_blease
Burton Futures: It all starts with art
We will be sharing people’s earliest art memories as a reminder that the impact of early art experiences can last a lifetime. If you would like to share your earliest art memory via Instagram please tag @burtonatbideford and use the hashtags #BurtonFutures #ItAllStartsWithArt
Please help us spread the word!
About the Big Give
Big Give is partnering with New Philanthropy for Arts & Culture (NPAC), a network of arts supporters who are passionate about increasing philanthropic support of the arts and culture sector, to launch our inaugural Arts for Impact campaign aimed at supporting arts and culture charities working to achieve societal impact across the UK. The campaign will see the public’s generosity multiplied, as donations to the participating charities will be doubled by the Big Give’s Arts for Impact match fund, which has been supported by generous ‘champions’, typically philanthropists, foundations or companies. It’s a simple idea – when the public donates to a charity through Big Give, we ask funders (philanthropists, foundations or corporates) to match that donation. So £50 from a member of the public becomes £100 for a good cause. Match funding is provided by a range of philanthropic organisations, called ‘Champions’ including The Reed Foundation, The Arts Council and many others.
Visit BigGive.org between midday on 18 March and midday on 25 March. Search “Burton Futures”, donate, and your donation will be doubled!
Thank you for your support.
