London's smaller art collections
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Course Code: VB865
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Duration: 5 sessions (over 5 weeks)
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What is the course about?
This is a gallery-based course which aims to explore London’s lesser-known and often overlooked art collections. Visits focus on each collection’s origins and curatorial policy and their permanent exhibitions.
A full list of meeting places for this course will be emailed to you within a week of the course's start date.
What will we cover?
In this course we explore some of London's smaller art collections, for example: The Estorick; Guildhall Art Gallery; the Wallace Collection; Leighton House; the Queen's House, Greenwich and Kenwood House.
Please note: We will only visit one museum or gallery per week, and the selection of museums/galleries from the list above will depend on the availability of group booking slots - your tutor will confirm the list of galleries and meeting points at the start of the course.
What will I achieve?
By the end of this course you should be able to...
1. Identify the range of smaller art collections in London and their holdings What previous students have achieved on this course:
2. Participate in discussions around art with increased confidence
3. Explore London’s smaller museums and galleries with greater confidence.
“I have raised my awareness of art collections in London and I am motivated to visit them again with an increased enjoyment.”
What level is the course and do I need any particular skills?
The course is suitable for beginners; you do not need to have studied art history before. However, it is also suitable for students with some knowledge of the subject.
You should be able to follow simple written and verbal instructions to support demonstrations, hand-outs and for health and safety information, and will be invited to take part in group discussion.
How will I be taught, and will there be any work outside the class?
Sessions will meet at the collection. Where possible, collection staff will give a brief talk about their gallery/museum followed by a tutor-led tour with the opportunity for group discussion throughout. There will also be some pair/small group activities, especially when lecturing is not permitted.
Museum/gallery-based courses take place during public access hours. Tutors are not able to control sound levels or behaviours of visitors outside of the course group. Unless you are a wheelchair user, and have confirmed access details with us (as levels of access can vary between galleries), you will need to be able to walk between exhibits and stand for some time while looking at them (you may bring your own portable stool if you have one, but we cannot guarantee access to any gallery stools.) If you feel you may be impacted by these environmental variations, please inform the department on humanities@citylit.ac.uk before the course begins, to discuss reasonable accommodations we can make to assist your learning in the museum space.
Are there any other costs? Is there anything I need to bring?
There will be travel costs to and from the different collections. Some of the galleries visited charge admission. You will be advised of this in advance. You may want to purchase books from the reading list provided at the first session.
When I've finished, what course can I do next?
You might like to try any of the other museum or gallery-based courses at City Lit.
Julie Barlow has a degree in Art History/History from the University of Hull and an MPhil (Fine Arts) from the University of Birmingham. She has worked in a variety of roles at Leighton House, V&A and Tate Gallery before studying for a PGCE and moving into Museum Education. Julie has over twenty years of experience as a freelance lecturer at the National Portrait Gallery working on all areas of the Education Programme and also for the first ten years at the National Gallery and in the last decade at the Wallace Collection.
Please note: We reserve the right to change our tutors from those advertised. This happens rarely, but if it does, we are unable to refund fees due to this. Our tutors may have different teaching styles; however we guarantee a consistent quality of teaching in all our courses.