By 1945, Nan Youngman had become a woman at the forefront of this new movement in the arts education milieu. She started an audacious campaign to put modern art in English schools. As chairman of the Society of Education through Arts, she launched a series of exhibitions offering museum-quality artwork for sale at affordable prices to education authorities. Youngman’s vision was clear: to provide students with inspiring artwork that would enhance their educational experience.
During the 1930s, Youngman continued to show her major works in most of London’s important galleries—proving to the world that she was a formidable artist. In 1944, she moved to Cambridgeshire with her wife, the sculptor Betty Rea. Soon thereafter, Youngman found himself, thanks to the vision and persuasion of Henry Morris, the county’s art adviser. This role allowed her to continue her mission of getting art in education.
Youngman brought to life one such initiative, “Pictures for Schools.” The purpose of this programme was to loan art works to local education authorities, including Rochdale, Manchester, Carlisle, Southend, Great Yarmouth, Derbyshire, Lancashire, the West Riding, Cambridgeshire, and Hertfordshire. The program brought new arts education content regularly into schools — four times a year. This was important because it meant that students were always inundated with fresh and exciting visual stimuli.
“The idea was to give children artwork that was inspiring to look at,” – Mr. Cantus
The impact of Youngman’s work was substantial. She staged what would later be called “remarkably successful” post-war exhibitions that showcased her innovative approach. Mr. Cantus, an artist himself, who researched Youngman’s legacy, laid out in his book “Nan Youngman & Pictures for Schools”. He filled in the details of her vision with abundant detail.
“Before Nan, a classroom would be full of sepia reproductions of paintings from the National Gallery – or posters given out by the Post Office as empirical propaganda – Nan wanted paintings by living artists in the schools,” – Mr. Cantus
Youngman’s program did not merely aim to beautify classrooms. It sought to engage children with art in a meaningful way. As Mr. Cantus said, each term opened up something new to discover. By taking this approach, art became live and current and students were immersed in a way that prevented it from being flat.
Youngman’s effort gave schools the opportunity to use the art for teaching purposes. Through the lens of one painting, teachers can advance lessons on agriculture, atmospheric science, and engineering topics like automation or machine design. They can lead to some really interesting conversations about art in general.
“Most of the children would never have had the opportunity to go to museums; there were no school trips, so the idea was to bring museum-quality art to schools,” – Mr. Cantus
Despite Youngman’s important work in the field of art education, for years her accomplishments have been buried. Revered artist Mr. Cantus made good on his visionary run ongoing call to Pictures of Schools artistry. All too often, he said, her work is diminished or overlooked just because she’s a woman.
The final “Pictures for Schools” exhibition took place in 1969. Exemplar local authorities, like Cambridgeshire and Hertfordshire, continued to collect as late as the turn of the millennium. The process of moving artworks between schools soon became a cumbersome endeavor. Storage constraints and urgent restoration needs, compounded by insurance and other logistical challenges, piled on the stress.
