Wera Discusses Creativity in Education

25 June 2019

On Friday 21st June Wera visited the Forest of Imagination at the Holbourne Museum and Sydney Gardens. The theme of this year’s event, which is free and open to all ages, was ‘lifelong inspiration from nature’.

On Friday 21st June Wera visited the Forest of Imagination at the Holbourne Museum and Sydney Gardens. The theme of this year’s event, which is free and open to all ages, was ‘lifelong inspiration from nature’.

“I’ve just come from the Youth 4 Climate Strike outside the Guildhall where there were dozens of passionate young people standing up for our shared environment. The Forest of Imagination is a fantastic Bath initiative and I’m delighted to see it grow from strength to strength, with more and more local schools taking part each year. Given my own training and career as an artist and as a former teacher, I feel I am really in my element here,” Wera said.

She held a discussion on creativity in education with the event’s organisers, collaborators and sponsors, academics and members of the public in the open air House of Imagination. She listened to concerns about the damaging impact of funding cuts on students’ creativity.

“Arts education should not be a luxury for the privileged few. It is an essential tool that facilitates creativity, adaptability, and social and personal transformation. Children are innately curious; they are natural explorers. In our increasingly complex and interconnected world, it’s more important than ever that we foster curiosity and exploration.”

Wera said, “We need to teach creatively, to reinstate arts funding in schools and invest in the next generation of creative thinkers.”

“How we can ensure that all children and young people have equal access to a high quality arts education from the earliest age? This is a challenge I can help take up for our local arts educators and our children in Westminster. I have been speaking out against the school funding crisis and I will continue to do so.”

“Children need to be engaged in the cultural life of the place where they live as active citizens and stewards of the environment, and the Forest of Imagination does just this. Congratulations to everyone who has helped make it happen!”

The Forest of Imagination is a contemporary arts and design event created by Grant Associates, 5x5x5=creativity and local creative industries.

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