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In
order to widen our appeal to and develop new ways to engage with
all young people, we are giving free admission to young people up
to the age of 18 and students in full-time education up to the age
of 25. By doing so we hope to increase visits to the gallery by
all young people, not just those who have opted to continue their
art study through GCSE and A Level Art.
Galleries,
obviously, are a valuable resource for those studying art, but we
are aware that it will be not only artists, designers and architects
who will define our future cultural landscape, but those who commission
them. Entrepreneurs, politicians, businessmen and women and celebrities
will be the collectors of the future, it is they who will commission
buildings and decide on what is spent on theatres, concert halls
and art galleries. Our aim, therefore, is to widen our appeal to
all young people and develop new ways to engage them, free admission
is our first initiative.
Free
admission to Abbot Hall will include access to all our temporary
exhibitions as well as the permanent collection. This goes further
than most National Galleries, many of who still make an admission
charge to young people to their major temporary exhibitions.
“Over
the past decade we have developed an exhibition programme which
is one of the most important outside the capital. We have also been
building up the permanent collection, and this is a resource we
want to utilise more effectively in the coming years. It is hoped
that this new initiative will be the start of a process to engage
many more young people with the opportunities available at Abbot
Hall.”
Edward King, Director
This
initiative is funded by The Lakeland Arts Trust which is an independent
charity. Our decision to invest in free admission will initially
result in a reduction of our admission revenue but we hope this
will be outweighed by the enrichment of our audience and visitor
experience.
Children
under twelve must be accompanied by an adult. Future initiatives
are planned that will encourage parents and children to interact
with the exhibits. With parents help, children will learn about
many aspects of human values and creativity through the powers of
art.
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