Children’s Art Week 2020: Grants for organisations

Children's Art Week 2020: 29 June – 19 July 2020   

Children’s Art Week is a UK-wide programme run by Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education.   

In 2020, Children’s Art Week will take place online, at home and in schools across three weeks in June and July. Each week will focus on a special theme.   

Our 2020 themes are…    

• Week 1 (from 29 June): The Natural World   
• Week 2 (from 6 July): Connecting across generations   
• Week 3 (from 13 July): Literacy and creative writing   

Schools, galleries, museums and community groups are invited to plan and register visual arts activities for children and families. These activities will give children and young people, together with their teachers, parents and carers, the opportunity to take part in practical art activities with artists, makers and educators.  

Over the past months, the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted how essential creativity and the visual arts are for learning, connecting and wellbeing. While our venues, cultural organisations and some school buildings may be closed, engaging in the visual arts is more important than ever.   

Who can organise an event or activity?   

Due to the uncertainty of when cultural and community venues will be able to safely host events, Children’s Art Week 2020 is focusing on online, remote events, activities and resources for home and school.   

Venues and organisations of all types and sizes are welcome to register events and activities — from libraries to community halls, heritage venues and country parks, schools and of course museums and galleries. Individual artists and makers can also take part.  

Activities may range from a live-streamed session with an artist or special activity packs, to digital challenges engaging with online collections, physical resources distributed by post or activity delivered over the phone — think outside the box! Events and activities will be filtered by age and location, so think about whether you would like to connect to a specific history or person from your local area and what age groups you would like to engage with.   

Organisers are welcome to revisit existing resources and activities to programme for Children’s Art Week 2020. If you have activities, a campaign or programme already in action, think about how you can respond to this year’s themes and join in!   

All registered events or activities, excluding private events registered by schools or organisations, must be free or low cost to participate, and must be able to be accessed or distributed remotely. Organisers will receive support from Engage to plan, run and publicise their events or activities.  

Registration will open at the end of May 2020.   

Why get involved?   

Children’s Art Week is a fantastic opportunity to encourage families, children and young people and schools to take part in fun, creative activities that they might not have tried before.  

In 2019 more than 17,000 children, young people and adults took part in events in venues across the UK. Organisers reported that 62% of participants were first-time visitors to their venue. 32% of participants were audiences who were completely new to the arts.   

Through evaluation, we know that Children’s Art Week is a valuable opportunity for venues and individuals to reach out to new audiences and take part in a national event.   

I have questions — who can I contact for help?   

Our team are on hand to offer support for your event — if you have any questions please contact info@childrensartweek.org.uk or call 07483 319 951.  

Children’s Art Week is run by Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education and supported in 2020 by Engage Scotland, Engage Cymru and The D’Oyly Carte Charitable Trust.