Our work to facilitate the study and practice of art history relies on the generous support of those who want to see the subject thrive and remain strong for future generations.
We serve those engaged in art history, those who are considering it as a field of study and those who want to learn more about art through its histories. Some of our recent successes on behalf of art history include:
- Creating, with the National Exchange College (NEC), the first A-level course online and addressing the geographic disparity of these courses offered almost exclusively in the South of England
- Bringing art history to 75,000 secondary school students in five years through a teacher residential programme in Leeds. Building on this success, we have secured multi-year funding to increase the reach to 140,000 students over a span of seven years.
- Introducing a new continuing professional development programme for primary school teachers to incorporate art history into their curriculum
- Publishing a series of special issues of our journal, Art History, which focuses on critical race studies. One issue featured an intervention on Decolonizing Art History that has been downloaded over 100,000 times, far more than any article in the journal’s history.
- Inaugurating a zero-fee licence from DACS for images used in scholarly journals
- Re-introducing a grants programme for research, publication and professional development
- Creating a funded, four-month residency for mid-career art historians
Our field, along with other subjects in the arts and humanities, faces challenges posed by government policy which strongly guides secondary students to STEM subjects and which favours those subjects at the university level. Additionally, Brexit, will curtail the easy interchange of scholars and students between UK and the continent, a critical dynamic within the education ecosystem.
Finally, Open Access publishing will reduce our income dramatically and with it our capacity to support the field. A gift to the Association for Art History is more needed and more important than ever.
If you would like to discuss making a donation now or in the future via a legacy, please contact the Association’s CEO, Gregory Perry at gregory@forarthistory.org.uk.
