'Art in schools is just box ticking

'Art in schools is just box ticking - I want to give something back'

A professional textile artist who believes art lessons are being 'stripped' from the classroom in schools is opening a cafe club for children and adults. Mother-of-four Angela Lock, 50, argues some schools only teach 'box ticking' art lessons rather than more 'creative projects'.

Now she's aiming to teach all forms of art to inspire young and old alike at a new art cafe. Art Club is set to open on Shaw Road, Heaton Moor, Stockport, next month.

Angela, from Heaton Moor, said: "My shop will be a place where people can connect, where artists can show their work and where we can facilitate creativity. Tapping into the imagination and being creative can be extremely therapeutic – it builds resilience, promotes problem solving skills and boosts good mental health."

Angela began running Art Club in 2018 at different venues in the area - until the Covid pandemic hit. She said experiencing her business almost fold acted was a catalyst to make a change and, late last year, she finally bought a shop in the centre of Heaton Moor, which she has refurbished. It will open on May 4.

She said one of Art Club's aims was to plug a gap she feels is being left by the national curriculum.

"My children at school would do one art project a year, rather than it being a daily occurrence. They would do that prescriptive box ticking project once a year." said Angela.

Angela believes art is being 'stripped' from schools (PA)

"Creative work leads to creative thinking, and if they aren't getting that creative work then it's an issue because there is creative thinking behind everything we do in life.

"School tells people if they're the arty type, the sporty type or the academic type and if you're told from a young age that you're not good at art, then you aren't being encouraged and you will just assume that you're rubbish.

"I'm fortunate to have had an art background, where I've studied it at university. I've been a textile artist, but when I met some adults who aren't as interested in art, they don't know how to help their children be creative.

"There were gaps that I could see, which I believed that I could fill, and when I heard parents say 'my child is artistic and I don't know what to do', it just made me realise that there is a need and a gap, which is why I set up the classes five years ago, and very quickly they became very full.

"The aim is to offer classes in a wide range of subjects, from printmaking, painting, drawing, photography, and creative writing to traditional crafts like macrame, candle-making and jewellery."

Although the club will primarily be a cafe hosting art workshops, it also has an alcohol license and Angela hopes to host parties. Classes will also focus on child and teenage art development.

Angela said: "One of the main reasons we set up art club in the first place is because we noticed it was being stripped out of schools. They were doing little projects, and it just seemed like box ticking rather doing creative projects, so we actually started with after-school classes and then we moved onto adults."

She added that she wanted to include school children who were impacted and suffered as a result of the pandemic.

"It will complement not compete with other businesses," she said. "It will also create jobs for local people at a time when so many have lost out." For further details visit Art Club here.

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