NAFNET is a member-focused forum for debate around important aspects of Fine Art education in the current climate. NAFNET takes place on Zoom and sessions are recorded and can be accessed by NAFAE members afterwards.

This session is chaired by John Cussans, University of Worcester.
British culture is wrought with seemingly intractable economic conflicts and social inequities, particularly in the areas of education, health and the arts. Yet despite poor prospects for lucrative and stable careers, young people still choose creative arts degrees all over the UK. The values that bring young people into arts education - meaning, non-conformity, play, self-expression, social critique and social justice – have all been embedded in the arts since the beginning of the 20th century. Increasingly students choose arts degrees because they want make sense of - and improve - their lived experiences, mental health, neurodiversity and well-being, concerns that fall outside the market measures of the socio-economic good. 

Paradoxically, as regional arts programs struggle to survive in the UK, the government’s Creative Health agenda, is gaining momentum. Given our understanding of the “habits of mind” cultivated by studio arts programs and their alignment with the Five Steps to Wellbeing identified by the NHS (Social Connection, Physical Activity, Learning New Skills, Giving to Others, Mindful Attention), now may be the time to revitalise the 19th century idea of the arts as an “education of the senses”, reconnect them to the broader project of improving individual and social wellbeing though increased sensory awareness and embodied cognition, and to align it more closely with the Creative Health agenda?

To register your interest in attending please email admin@Nafae.org.uk