Nowadays, everyone is talking about cultural education and it is impossible to imagine inclusion, better educational opportunities and equal participation in the school context without it. However, few people are aware that the state of Saxony-Anhalt has been continuously supporting this area of education and work in cooperation with the Berufsverband Bildender Künstler (BBK) Sachsen-Anhalt for more than two decades with project funding.
It all starts with a professional development program for female artists.
In the 1996 financial year, projects with female artists from the state of Saxony-Anhalt are to be organized and carried out at schools in the state. The aim is to promote female artists in Saxony-Anhalt and create the conditions for action-oriented encounters between artists and schoolchildren.
The promotion of female artists takes account of Article 3 (2) of the Basic Law, Article 34 of the Constitution of the State of Saxony-Anhalt and the Women’s Promotion Act of the State of Saxony-Anhalt.
§ 1 of the contract between the state of Saxony-Anhalt and the Association of Visual Artists (VBK) Saxony-Anhalt e. V. of 15.07.1996
The project was announced on July 17, 1996 by the Ministry of Education via the announcement “Visual artists in schools”, which also appeared shortly afterwards in the Schulverwaltungsblatt. Applicants are the schools. Female artists can also express their interest. The two former regional associations of the VBK in Magdeburg and Halle are responsible for receiving and processing the applications, with Halle traditionally also looking after the Dessau region. The regional office in Halle alone receives 74 applications as a result. The spectrum of performances is broad: from stimulating support, continuation of ongoing projects, lesson-related work, development of theater performances to the overall design of schools to be renovated. The individual projects can take place both in and out of the classroom, but must be completed by November of the current year at the latest.
In April 1998, after a period of two school years, the association reported its experiences to the Ministry of Education as follows:
It is considered sensible to extend the number of hours, as all artists have worked far more than the contractually agreed number of hours and the quality of the projects has improved considerably as a result. This opinion is also shared by teachers. In the meantime, inquiries about our joint project are also increasing from other federal states and it serves as a stimulus and basis for efforts and negotiations to initiate something similar there too.
It is also suggested that in future the cost of materials should be covered by the schools and not by the artists’ fees. In the call for proposals for 1998, this suggestion was incorporated into the funding regulations for the first time and on a permanent basis. In December 1999, the association also urged that the date for publication in the school administration journal be brought forward and a closing date for applications be introduced, as in practice many schools were too late with their applications or had problems integrating them into their annual planning.
The project was opened up to artists in the 2001/2002 school year. After five years, the social aspect of support for female artists has been removed and the project is no longer assigned to the Department for Gender Equality. This is also reflected in the project title, which is now “Visual artists in schools”. In subsequent years, however, the contracts between the Ministry of Culture and the VBK sometimes stipulate a fifty percent share for female artists.
As part of the opening up and expansion of the project, the hourly rate is halved in the same year from DEM 80 to DEM 40. From now on, secondary schools will also be given greater consideration when approving applications. Due to space limitations in the regional offices, it was decided in May 2001, together with the Ministry, to archive all the project documentation compiled up to that point in the Cranach Foundation’s painting school in Lutherstadt Wittenberg. Furthermore, the Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs is considering preparing an offer for artists for further pedagogical training with a final certificate in the field of art education.
With the currency conversion from DEM to EUR in 2002, the hourly fee rate was adjusted again to EUR 25. This remains unchanged to this day. The conditions for the projects are also being revised. In its invitation to members, the association outlines the most important changes: “The artists develop a conceptual project that offers pupils the opportunity to engage with the visual arts in a way that goes beyond art lessons. The association arranges cooperation with schools. Each applicant also has the opportunity to nominate a suitable school. […] For projects at schools that are more than 50 km away from the artists’ place of residence, a lump sum of EUR 25 can be granted in addition to the travel costs.” At the same time, a memo expressly points out once again that, according to the contract, secondary schools and special schools are to be given special consideration when submitting applications.
The year 2004 brings further changes. The project now operates under the name “Visual Artists in Schools” and the association itself is renamed “Berufsverband Bildender Künstler Sachsen-Anhalt e. V.” at the end of the year. As part of the negotiations for the continuation of the project in the 2004/2005 school year, the Ministry reflects on the progress of the process to date: “The implementation of the projects usually began in May of the current year with the publication and call for applications from schools in the school administration journal. At the same time, we informed the artists about the time frame of the project and asked them to apply to participate. The cash balance of the funding used was closed in November of the year, various projects ran over the turn of the year and ended in January of the following year.”
In 2005, the two regional associations Halle-Dessau and Magdeburg merge. However, applications, approvals and settlements within the framework of the “Visual Artists in Schools” project will continue to be processed independently and separately in the regional offices in Halle and Magdeburg up to and including the 2008/2009 school year.
There is another novelty in 2008. For the first time in its history, the project has an annual theme: “Dealing with the precursors to violence and intolerance – what significance do values such as esteem, respect and improved self-awareness have for the socialization of pupils?” In terms of focus, the call is aimed primarily at secondary, comprehensive and all-day schools. The idea of an annual theme is taken up again in subsequent years: “I see something you don’t see and it looks a lot like me!” (2012), “On the Romanesque Road” (2013) and “The extraordinary in the everyday” (2014).
From 2009, all project activities will be coordinated centrally by the professional association’s office in Halle and the project will now be called “Visual Artists in Schools”. One of the consequences of this is that certain regions of the country are falling further behind than before. The following passage from the professional association’s factual report for 2011 makes this clear: “We naturally very much regret that we are unable to consider some of the applicant schools far outside the urban and educational centers due to very high travel costs.”
The term cultural education is explicitly mentioned for the first time in the 2011 contract between the state and the BBK. In the preamble to the agreement, both contractual partners clearly reiterate the objectives of the project: “The visual arts are an indispensable part of the educational mission of all types of schools in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. One of its aims is to enable pupils to actively participate in cultural life by developing their creativity and social skills. […]”.
Another tradition will be established in 2012 with an exhibition of selected results from the individual projects. The first exhibition venues are Galerie Entrée in the Ministry of Culture in Magdeburg (08.05.2012 to 29.06.2012) and the LISA State Institute for School Quality and Teacher Training in Halle (30.06.2012 to 05.10.2012). Further exhibitions will follow in 2014 and 2016. To make the project accessible to an even wider public, the website kuenstleranschulen.de finally goes online in 2013.
General project process in retrospect
The annual application period for the project begins with the publication of the call for applications in the school administration journal – which has fluctuated greatly over the years between February and July. As a rule, schools apply to take part. However, artists can also submit applications, express their interest in working together, submit concrete project ideas or propose cooperation projects with a school. The head office or, in the final instance, the BBK board then decide on the approval of individual projects based on the number of applications received and the annual budget available. A variety of factors come into play here. This can also include specifications, e.g. for preferential consideration of certain types of schools, by the Ministry of Education as the client. In general, it has to be noted that the lump-sum reimbursement of travel costs, which has been in force for some time now, means that applicant schools outside of metropolitan areas are increasingly less likely to be considered in the selection process.
The approved individual projects take place from early summer to December of a calendar year, i.e. essentially only cover the first half of the school year. The extent to which this coincides with the general school year planning and thus the needs of the schools and whether this may even have an influence on the willingness of individual schools to apply can certainly be critically questioned.