Project Type: Research

Two producers in a booth sit with multiple computer screens in front of them on a desk. On a green screen stage in front of them are 5 performers. 2 are standing, one is in a wheelchair and another two appear to be listening as they sit on the ground.

How is art/ tech work reaching the public?

Collusion asked Flow Associates to undertake research into the current context of practice, commissioning and accessing art/tech works, and make this short report available for others to use. Flow spoke with venues, commissioners and artists to get a sense of the state of play and where and how R&D support is working or throwing up barriers for a thriving area of practice.

Read the report here

What do we mean by art/tech? Artwork, any artform, where technology is used in a practice led way to create experiences for the public. We are interested in physical work that the public needs to engage with in a particular location. We are excluding purely digital work that is experienced on the internet only. Artworks in this field can take a wide variety of forms, lengths and locations: from traditional venues to outdoor works and festivals, 10 minutes to an hour or more, using technology subtly or more substantially.

The pipeline for making practice-led art/tech work is broken, if indeed it ever existed. Alongside access to a range of expertise and resources, the cost of living crisis and subsequent hypercompetition for funding has led us to a situation where creativity, innovation and production is stifled by the lack of access to funding, whether application led or venue commissioned.

Further, where traditional commissioning is taking place for art/tech work, the ‘deliver this as a finished piece by X’ is failing to account for the iterative nature of art/tech work that requires more R&D and audience testing over a longer period of time to reach a truly finished state. As an emerging sector, when compared with a traditional sector such as dance or visual arts, there also appears not to be a strong shared understanding of who the key players and networks are in this field, with an apparent lack of connection and collaboration.

BRIT Transforms Revue

Flow were commissioned by The BRIT school to conduct research with their alumni to uncover and articulate the long-term impact of the school on the creative and cultural sector.

Through workshops with staff and analysis of qualitative responses from over 800 past students we identified key themes and outcomes. Our insights provided the backbone of a publication and campaign launched in 2021.

This publication was used as an advocacy document to support further funding and a celebration event shared its story with key funders and alumni.

Charging Schools: Why and How?

This research is a snapshot of the charging models at Museums and Galleries across the UK in 2024. As schools and the cultural sector face a challenging economic climate, the National Portrait Gallery asked Flow Associates to undertake research into current charging models for school visits across the museum and gallery sector to inform their own work.  They have kindly agreed for us to share a summary of the research to support the sector as a whole in understanding the approaches taken by organisations to ensure both equitable access to cultural education, and the drivers for financial sustainability.

This will be a helpful document to enable my powers that be to understand why we need to be careful with price rises for educational bookings.” Museum educator in response to our Facebook post in ‘Learning in Museums and Galleries’

We wanted to understand the following:

  • What charging models exist in Museums and Galleries for Primary school, Secondary school, College and Special school visits?
  • How much do they charge? Are concessions made/bursaries given to e.g. for schools with high pupil premium?
  • How much do other, comparable Museums and Galleries charge and what are they charging for?
  • By charging schools can you cover ‘real’ costs?
  • Is charging likely to be a barrier for schools in general and/or for particular types of school?
  • How might charging for schools impact negatively on Museums and Galleries?

Download PDF “Charging Schools: Why and How?”

As this paper emerged from research for its commissioner, the National Portrait Gallery, our comparitive review looked at the learning programs offered by 22 Museums and Galleries and selected organisations that were either National Museums as designated by parliament, or based in London and therefore catering to a similar demographic. Our focus here was on museums and galleries which are free to the public, and the majority have charges for special events and exhibitions. We included two relevant london galleries who charge general public for entry, the Photographers gallery and the Dulwich Picture Gallery. Both offer free entry for schools. In addition we ran a quick review of a further 19 organisations to establish whether or not they charge schools for their programmes.

An open online survey to members of the Group for Education in Museums network, saw contributions from a further 61 organisations and we have included their anonymised responses in this paper.

 

 

Natural History Museum

A major research and consultation project working with curatorial and Learning teams to develop a new Children’s Gallery, a global international education initiative, onsite programming and online activities. We worked alongside the teams onsite on remotely to establish the guiding principles for the project, develop key interpretive themes and programming which engages young people with caring for and understanding their immediate natural environments and ecosystems as well as those globally.

The research explored how to:

  • Optimise the experience of the new Children’s Gallery, through activities on themes of Wild Voices, connecting with animals’ lives in different habitats.
  • Lift barriers of access to schools, families and groups with intersecting factors of disadvantage or SENDs, by consulting them, travelling to settings with activities, and easing their experience of the NHM as a whole.
  • Inspire and acknowledge young children as imaginative friends of the natural world, and provide templates for partners in the GEI, through online resources for digital and real-world play and nature connection.
  • Develop skills of adults (including NHM staff and volunteers) to reconnect with nature and support children through a ’School of Nature Play’.
  • To do action research as the activities are developed, to serve the global initiatve with insights.

Museum of London: Before London

We were commissioned by Museum of London to carry out formative research to inform the design of the Before London gallery at their new site in Smithfield Market. MoL wanted to understand what objects their target visitor groups would respond to, their reactions to the proposed graphical and illustation styles and how people understand the timespan of pre-history.

Working with the Museum’s curators, Learning team and designers, we ran a number of collaborative and interactive online consultation workshops which explored the materials from the galleries in detail. Flow carefully recruited a breadth of visitors and non-visitors representing adults and teachers and led sessions discussing and exploring content to understand their reactions, understanding and interests. With teachers we spoke in depth about how they teach pre-history at Key Stage 2 and how physical visits to the museums, the interpretation and in-gallery design would support learning about London, the environment, it’s people and their lives.

The research was presented in person to the clients with Flow leading a discussion on it’s insights and a written report and a full appendix of material provided.

With Flow’s expertise in Experience Design and Museum Learning, we love to work with clients on formative research. If you are looking to clarify or test approaches to new exhibitions or projects, we would love to talk with you about how we can help you design the best for your visitors.

Arts Council England & Art Fund

Flow Associates were commissioned by Art Fund and the Arts Council to explore the potential for national youth provision in the Visual Arts. The study arose from a question:

if there are national youth schemes in music and the performing arts, what are the gaps in youth provision in the Visual Arts and what kind of programme could help fill them?

A first phase of information gathering resulted in an understanding of what already exists in this area, and the systemic issues affecting young people’s access to learning and careers in the Visual Arts.  Situation Analysis and Comparative review of programmes in Visual Arts and in other artforms, as well as initial conversations with young practitioners and Visual Arts education experts enabled us to map the current context and engage with museums, galleries, charities and youth organisations nationally.

This informed the second phase of our research, enabling us to offer a ‘Story of Change’ for a possible programme of a new form of creative provision for young people. We consulted across the UK, facilitating co-design sessions with young people, creative professionals and providers, and conducted extensive interviews with visual arts leaders.