Starting art class at charity- any idea where we could get equipment, funding etc ?

Cat72

HI
Hope you can help us- its my first time on this board. I volunteer for a charity and we offer clients free relaxation therapies amongst everything.These have taken off qiuite well so we are thinking wanting to introduce art classes. I have heard other organisations doing this and being able to get funding from societys and competitions etc. It would also be briliant if there was somewhere we could get the basic equiopment - just some paints, papaer, pencils (nothing to extravagent ) for either cheap or - free :eek: .
Has anyone had any experience of this or any ideas that would help us ?
many thanks

kittiwoz

Try the Scottish Arts Council for starters. Also your local council may be able to point you in the direction of local funding and support groups for the arts or community groups. In know where I live there are organisations that would deal with this kind of thing.

You will need someone with a suitable background/ qualifications/ experience to take the class. Possibly if you contact arts colleges locally they could offer you some support. Please do be aware that teaching art requires specialist knowledge and skills, both in the subject of art and in teaching itself. You don't say much about your plans so don't feel I'm acussing you of this but some people seem to think giving people pencils and paper, setting a badly thought out exercise and telling them to get on with it constitutes an art class. It doesn't. It also isn't relaxing because without any proper teaching a lot of the students will produce work which they feel is poor but are not being given any mechanism for improvement which is extremely frustrating.

As far as arts equipment goes you may be able to arrange a bulk discount with a local specialist arts shop. I would definitely recomend visiting a good art shop and speaking to the staff there to get a better idea of what you might need and what you can provide to your clients. Colleges buy art materials from wholsalers via catalogue, maybe an arts college or the council could put you in touch with their suppliers. You do have to buy proper equipment made by a reputable manufacturer though, there is no point in trying to economise by buying pencil sets from pound shops etc. Art materials generally are not cheap and I don't think there is really a way round that. Obviously some media are cheaper than others and I think choosing less expensive types of media but getting decent quality materials will be the best compromise.

Debt_Free_Chick

See if your local Parish Council or Community Council offer grants.

MaureenHB

There may be a Scrapstore local to you like our brilliant Shrodoba scrapstore
http://www.sheffield-scrapstore.co.uk/Index.html
It is a charity itself, run for childminders, nurseries, local groups, and they recycle bits and bobs donated to them from all sorts of local sources. Worth looking into. Good Luck

lightisfading

seconding the scrapstore idea... http://www.home-education.org.uk/scrap.htm has a long list of 'em

pulliptears

I run a brownies group and Ive always found places like Partners stationers willing to give me a good discount on supplies for the girls. You have to be quite cheeky and ask
Jane
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