Whitby's Pannett Art Gallery secures £11,130 to inspire next generation of artists
Am art gallery in Whitby has secured more than £11,000 in external funding to create a new education programme designed to help young people engage with art and support learning in schools.
Pannett Art Gallery has been awarded £11,130 through the Museum Learning and Education Grant Programme run by Museum Development North.
The project will see the gallery work with Whitby School, education specialists and creative professionals to develop a range of curriculum-linked resources based on artworks in its permanent collection.
The materials are intended to support secondary school art education and give students opportunities to engage directly with original artworks, explore different artistic styles and learn more about the area’s artistic heritage.
Once completed, the resources will be made available free of charge to schools, home educators, and community organisations, both at the gallery and online, ensuring that young people across Whitby and the surrounding rural communities can benefit
Helen Berry, curator of the Pannett Art Gallery, said the funding would help the gallery make greater use of its collections as an educational resource.
She said: “We know that there is a huge amount of creative potential in our local community, but opportunities for young people to engage with art and explore creative careers can sometimes be limited.
“Our collections are an incredible educational resource, and this funding will allow us to work with teachers and young people to make much greater use of them.”
According to the gallery, the resources will be developed with input from teachers and tested with students before being made available free of charge to schools, home educators and community groups.
The gallery said the programme forms part of wider efforts to strengthen its role within the community and encourage more young people to consider further study and careers in the creative industries.
Whitby Town Mayor Cllr Sandra Turner said she was “delighted” with the funding award.
She told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “This project will help forge stronger links between the gallery and our local schools, make better use of the wonderful collections we have here in Whitby, and give young people the opportunity to explore art in a way that might not otherwise be available to them.”
The funding was awarded through a competitive application process and the gallery said only around a quarter of applications to the programme were successful.
Work on the project is expected to begin in the coming months, with the completed resources due to be available from March 2027.
The Museum Learning and Education Grant Programme is funded through Arts Council England and the UK Government.
Ms Turner added: “As a town council, we are committed to supporting the gallery, investing in its future, and helping it develop its role at the heart of our community.
"This latest success demonstrates what can be achieved when we support our talented staff and encourage them to pursue new opportunities and external funding.
“While Whitby has a remarkable artistic and cultural heritage, we must also look to the future and ensure that our young people have opportunities to develop their own talents.”