Arts Help is committed to the UN's Sustainable Development Goals, as well as a variety of social justice causes. One such cause is widespread access to education around the world, an initiative spearheaded through Arts Help's Artist Education series, coming 2021.
As a student of art history, I have encountered the jarring demographic disparity in the discipline. The extensive study of art history at the collegiate level currently requires early exposure to the Western canon of fine art. Unfortunately, most school curricula do not prioritize the study of art, much less art history, and discourage students from further exploration. Students in specialized education settings or those whose families are art-oriented comprise the majority of art history students. By their teenage years, the majority of students only experience art in limited museum settings, even though the accessibility of images is greater now than ever before. Historical art and modern art alike are inundated with hidden meaning, and better resemble pretentious mysteries than cultural reflections.
In truth, art history as it currently stands is incredibly inaccessible. The tools and methodology are not so difficult that the average student would not understand, and they have simply been omitted from common knowledge. It is my hope that the Art Theory series, a collaboration between many contributing writers, will provide a quick survey of art historical methods that encourage readers to learn more and deepen their skill set.
- Hannah Chew, Managing Editor at Arts Help