Plastered all over the streets and underground tube stations in London, phrases like “imagination is worth teaching” and “that job description is missing the word artist” confront thousands of commuters on their journeys each day. Its intention: to remind the public that the creative arts deserve investment and attention in primary and secondary education.
Often neglected in favour of 'core' subjects, over the last decade, practising art in schools has been reduced to something only suitable for the less academically inclined. Stripping young students of the opportunity to explore their creativity and self-expression, nowadays many teenagers are led to to believe that art, design and technology are not avenues which can sufficiently support an application for UCAS or a graduate role.
According to a recent study by Campaign for the Arts, GCSE entries in the arts sector have “declined by 47% since 2010”. In a climate where STEM subjects are championed as key studies for future global growth, we now find ourselves in a society which tacitly dismisses the arts. Its failure to encourage creative participation and experimentation effectively undermines a sector which remains inherent to our national culture. However, on 24th September 2024, Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy voiced their viewpoints at a Labour Party conference. Respectively, they stressed their beliefs that “everyone deserves the chance to be touched by art” and that “a complete education is a creative education”.
Moreover, the RA's campaign also aims to reach an audience outside of the educational sector. It pleads for recruiters to acknowledge the ‘soft’ skills candidates from a creative background can offer in the modern workplace. Promising higher emotional intelligence and analytical competence, the posters showcase how art “encourages children to see the world differently and to make their mark”. Even recent LinkedIn data shows that creativity is the most sought-after skill in today's job market. Thanks to a soar in AI development, human imagination is ever more “crucial in the age of automation”.
As a History of Art student who has a passion for reading visual culture (but confessedly lacks illustrative talent), I couldn’t agree with this campaign more. Throughout my time in secondary school, higher education opportunities in the STEM field were ruthlessly endorsed. Those down the arts route, however, were always overlooked. The lessons which artistic disciplines teach fuel progression in a diversifying society. Art holds a central place in education and the workplace; no one should deny our future generations of that.
