Artists In Schools

Artists in Schools is a long-running schools artist residency program. It was established to encourage students' participation in and appreciation of the arts through creative interaction with a professional arts practitioner, such as:

• seeing a professional artist at work and learning about the artists' role in the community;
• working with a professional artist on an arts project; and
• learning about the artistic process.

Artists in Schools provides opportunities to develop partnerships between schools, communities and artists, while achieving a creative project outcome. It is designed to engage students in stimulating arts experiences that add richness and depth to their learning.

• encouraging student involvement in the creative process;
• providing opportunities for students to gain new skills;
• providing opportunities to help student confidence, sense of identity and self-esteem;
• promoting the value of the arts; and
• enriching and adding new perspectives to the schools existing arts curriculum in line with the South Australian Curriculum Standards and Accountability Framework as well as the developing Australian Curriculum.

More than 75,000 South Australian students in primary, secondary and area schools have participated in Artists in Schools.

‘I feel like a professional artist,’ student, Kidman Park Primary, 2009.

Artists in Schools is a partnership between Carclew Youth Arts and the Department for Education and Child Development and provides up to $2,750 as a contribution to the cost of a professional practicing artist to work in  a South Australian school for up to 10 days.

Artists in Schools funding does not cover cost for the entire project. It is the school's responsibility to cover additional project costs including materials and staffing, as required.

In the case of regional residencies, Artists in Schools also provides a contribution towards travel and living expenses for an artist if they are not local to the area. It is the school's responsibility to provide suitable accommodation for the artist for the duration of the residency.

Annual applications are invited in April and August, from South Australian primary, secondary and area schools who are interested in initiating arts projects with practicing professional artists.

Key Dates

Applications are called for twice each year. For projects in Terms 1 and 2 applications close on 17 August and for projects in Terms 3 and 4, on 30 April.