By Clare Ferdinando, Education Outreach Co-ordinator at Dulwich Picture Gallery
When I tell people about my job they always amazed at the range of community work the Gallery is involved in.
‘I had no idea. You do all this from an art gallery?!’
A day in the life of the outreach work may start on an estate in Peckham managing a story telling art session with parents and under 5’s; the afternoon may include a practical art workshop at a nursing home for older people and the day end with an evening drop-in at a youth club on an estate in Kennington.
There was one day when I wore jeans in the morning to a digital photography workshop for teenagers who were out of school and employment, before quickly changing into something smarter for a private view of artwork from our project with St Christopher’s Hospice in the afternoon!
It’s all go and the outreach programmes are generating increasing media interest. The BBC came to film our ‘Good Times: Prescription for Art’ workshops last week. Several local GP’s surgeries are ‘prescribing’ our courses to certain older people in the community and it’s making a huge difference to their lives. The BBC filming day went extremely well and will be shown on the national News At Ten so keep an eye out!
