Hart School

Hart School was initially developed by Hart Club as an intensive 3 month Arts programme designed to be free, inclusive and accessible. After the success and inspiring outcomes of the first few months, the programme has been extended and now runs once week from the Hart Club gallery space in London. It is a radical re-imagining of what it means to nurture creativity and community in an educational setting and is now running once a week with our cohort of artists.

Open to adults of all ages, Hart School prioritises those typically excluded from similar opportunities due to financial barriers and lack of specialised support for disabled artists. The programme is a response to a missing sense of nurture and empathy generally lacking in institutionalised places of work and learning.

In designing Hart School we sought to create a holistic programme, putting people first. This has included delicious and healthy communal meals daily, regular one to one check-ins and a lot of inclusive and exploratory fun.

We have enlisted a range of creative professionals to share a multitude of different skills with the group. From ceramics to textiles to screen printing, the participants have been able to explore their creativity in formats beyond their existing practices.

We have been actively committed to learning and adapting as this first version of Hart School unfolds. We have learnt as much from the inevitable challenges as from the many remarkable successes. Within the first three months drawing we were perhaps most proud of how quickly a real sense of community and mutual support had been established.

What is already apparent is the unique value of building a creative space that is inclusive, non-hierarchical and promotes collaborative learning. This lead us to decide that we wanted more time together and extended the programme to continue once a week for the next nine months…  Watch this space!