Education

VAS has been working in recent years to strengthen it’s commitment to the involvement of young people in the arts, and aims to develop new audiences, and encourage participation in the arts by the next generation through a programme of educational workshops.

With the help of our sponsors council member Lucilla Sim has worked hard to establish a regualr programme of workshops that coincide each year with the Annual Exhibition. Practicing artists  lead groups of children in an investigation of the show, and follow this with a hands-on workshop back in the classroom. The end result is an exciting exercise in making art as well as having the privilege of introducing young people to the world of a public art gallery.

In 2011 the education programme will be staged with the assistance of funding from The Russell Trust. Artists Frances Priest and Brigid Collins will work with children from Preston Street School in Edinburgh and St. Johns in Portobello.

In 2010 the education programme was made possible by the kindness of McInroy & Wood Personal Investment Managers and Leith School of Art. The schools benefitting from the project wereLeith Walk Primary, St Mary’s RC Primary in Edinburgh, and Cockenzie Primary in East Lothian. The artist’s involved included Edinburgh painter Kittie Jones and Border’s based mixed media artist Hazel Vellacott.

VAS must continue to fundraise on a reguar basis in order to ensure the future of the education programme. Commercial sponsorship is invaluable to us but increasingly difficult to come by. If you would like to make a contribution of any size towards next years workshops you can do so by visiting the fundraising section of this site and making a donation. All contributions, no matter how small are gratefully recieved, and everypenny makes a difference.