MA Arts and Learning, Goldsmiths, University of London

In this workshop, we will explore our relationship with the archaeological past and present through the Venus of Tamtoc, a sculpture from the Huastec region of Mexico. Very little is known about this sculpture beyond its discovery in fragments beneath a sacred water spring. Rather than attempting to fill these gaps, this session invites participants to embrace the unknown and to engage with questions of meaning, absence, and mystery. Through drawing, writing, and collective sharing, we will reflect together on what it means to encounter an artwork that resists fixed interpretation. Open to all Goldsmiths UOL students. 🌻 Registration link in bio RHB 150 15 May, 6:00–7:30 pm

‘Plural Horizons’ were envisioned in Molly Pardoe’s PhD Art Practice and Learning viva exhibition at @ampgallery . @mollycpardoe ’s cohesive body of work explores transnationalism through painting. @mirandamatthews has supervised Molly, with @esthersayers , since 2020. Centre for Arts and Learning is delighted with Molly’s developments in practice research. @maartsandlearning students visited Molly’s exhibition to address questions about how and why artworks are curated for exhibition, on this atmospheric and fruitful occasion. #transnational #painting

The 2025-26 research theme ‘stories of change’ was addressed by Megan Lovett, Learning Manager at @bowarts and artist @esther_neslen , in the context of problem-posing the changes that happen in creative learning experiences, gathered at Bow Arts Trust and in Neslen’s range of participatory projects.   Megan Lovett said, ‘So many of the teachers who visit are actually frightened of the creative process, so having someone like Esther go in with some practical skills can enable them to be more confident in delivering art lessons…From a teacher perspective, you want this experience but then there come all the practicalities: We’ve created all this work and now how do we display it and evidence it?’. The ‘resistances’ of differences in school and gallery contexts were raised. ‘We’ve been invited to do something open and creative as artists but now we’re coming up against all of these resistances.’ Meg said that Bow Arts projects encourage, ‘Having a mindset when you can keep people creative and free without sticking to a rigid curriculum.’ Esther Neslen shared the changes and adaptations made in discoveries and difficulties to work through in projects with schools and community groups. Regarding the ‘Monstrous Assembly’ project in which large clay sculptures were made at the Epping Forest Visitors’ Centre in 2019, Esther said, ‘I wanted to get people with all different ideas and get them together.’ Esther Neslen talked about how projects with schools can introduce more diverse artists for culturally relevant learning referring to David Drake aka ‘Dave the Potter’. While he was enslaved in 19th century America, he made clay pots, and wrote his name and poems on the pots. Esther said, ‘It was illegal for slaves to read and especially to write. What he was doing was public and radical, and I wanted to demonstrate the powerful possibilities of literacy - of writing your name.’ Esther also relates to culturally relevant contemporary artists such Sylheti artist Rana Begum, who lives and works in London, when working with school students with Bangladeshi heritage in Tower Hamlets.

This year we continued our formative assessment exchange with @raphaelvella and master’s students at @ummalta . Goldsmiths and University of Malta students reflected on recently assessed projects and assignments, towards gathering feedback for their ongoing work in progress from a range of international viewpoints. @maartsandlearning students shared their reflections on a practice based inquiry connecting with experiences of working with a range of learning and participation curators at six museums, galleries and arts organisations. University of Malta students shared their recent project for co-designing and making a skate park in Malta with local skate groups and community members.

When @frankbowlingstudio visited @maartsandlearning this Spring we reflected on turning points in the life course of Bowling as an artist. Ben Bowling and Susi Sahmland said that, ‘The things that lead people to change maybe only observed as moments long after the act.’ ‘In New York in the 1960’s he saw light coming through the window onto his canvas that he thought looked like the map of South America, and this was a turning point in his career.’ Art also changes in the making. ‘Growing older has changed how he practices his work.. he needs help and that has changed how he paints.’ The group talked about significant changes in a person’s life, which could potentially be to do with people, illness, serendipity, personal identity, artistic identity, location or politics. When Ben and Susi asked Frank about his stories of change, Frank said the biggest change in his life and influence in his career was Clement Greenberg who said, ‘It’s flat’, abstract art is flat.

Exciting #OpenDay to learn about postgraduate and undergraduate programmes at Goldsmiths! We look forward to welcoming you on campus and answer any questions you may have about how our courses can advance your future! BA Education PGCE Primary and Secondary MA Children’s Literature MA Children’s Literature: Children’s Book Ilustration MA Arts and Learning MA Social Justice in Education MA Creative Writing in Education Learn more about our education programmes here: /subjects/education-lifelong-learning/

Stories of Change at @whitechapelgallery were situated in problem-posing the histories of and contemporary approaches to curating artworks, in ways that enable diverse participation. Whitechapel Gallery is celebrating its 125th year in 2026, as @goldsmithsuol celebrates its 120 years. Richard Martin talked about the gallery’s changing approaches, questioning how we might think of the history of the institution in relation to developments in art with the people of the local area. He asked us to reflect on ‘What is at stake in the story of change in East London?’ This question invited connection with views West of Whitechapel Gallery into the commerce of the city, and East to the market stalls of the local community. @lowrymoth delivered a workshop which immersed the @maal group in the @joy_gregory_studio and Candice Lin exhibitions. The group experienced Gregory’s work with the intermediary of ‘photo batik’, and Lin’s in free writing and drawing. Richard Martin and Kirsty Lowry support vibrant discursive and creative ways to explore learning connections.

Stories of Change’ at Young V&A connected with repositioning the access to museum spaces and collections for young people and their families. Alex Newson and Catherine Ritman-Smith thoughtfully connected with the Centre for Arts and Learning 2025-26 research theme and invited @maal students behind the scenes of the histories and contemporary approaches of @young.vam . Alex said: ‘The story of change is also a physical one - in the redesign of the space. That is the biggest story of change. It’s about how museums consider access to their spaces and their collections.’ Thinking about how to communicate the materialities of @young.vam museum collections to young children Alex said, ‘How do you tell a story about yellowness or about bumpiness?’ Catherine problem-posed curating for children: ‘How does materiality change? How do we access toys and play? Are we thinking about the child’s needs and wants?’ Through generations there’s a story in all of our families that will have changed over the years…The story of change is also a story of creative processes…Who can tell a story in a museum? What kinds of stories can be told in a museum?’ #participation #stories #change

@najiabagi spoke to MA Arts and Learning students about ‘Stories of Change’ in relation to participatory arts, and the international and hyper local communities of @themosaicrooms . Najia asked: ‘In a rigid world how can we be softer and more porous?’ Najia says that changes in creative learning happen ‘when people feel safe and grounded’. Mosaic Rooms are ‘Working with young people who are creatively curious and interested in imagining just futures’. Najia discussed the Play Lab: Luma project – meaning light, developed with artist Chahine Fellahi, which is inspired by the life and legacy of Dia Batal, and works with Arabic calligraphy and story telling. Another significant project is ‘Yalla let’s play’ – (Come on let’s play), that focuses on the liberating potential of play with visiting families. Mosaic Rooms are making, ‘A space for local, national and international exchanges’, and exploring the potential for co-designed sensory learning spaces: ‘How would schools sound if they were designed by children?’ #artsandlearning #change #stories #narrative

In Spring term 25-26 @maartsandlearning is connecting with a range of cultural organisations that are relating to @artsnlearning research theme ‘Stories of Change’. These images are from our workshop with @entelechyarts . Here is an extract from the Entelechy response to Stories of Change. Stories of change – buried or new - might emerge in neglected areas and in the space between us all, from a relational space. Particularly when relationality is between people whom society keeps separate, building a foundation of trust and mutuality. With this body of trust comes new thoughts, allowing us to think outside of our usual places, and perceive things that may have always been there but hidden in plain sight. Thereby seeds of change, sometimes so ordinary, incongruent, chaotic or quiet we may dismiss them, come from the ground up, from the grass roots, burgeoning from under the surface. In our practise this often-playful ordinariness of sharing stories, of being together, of connecting sometime beyond words, allows a resting of the body, attuning us all to a communal nervous system, releasing other perceptual possibilities. Being frivolous, playful, with no agenda, engaging our own sense of embodied presence and sensory literacy, creates a shift in our nervous systems, opening other ways of imagining and seeing. #artseducation #diversity #inclusion #change

As part of one of my modules on the @maartsandlearning we were asked to Revisit our Practice. My childhood photos have been a part of my practice for over a decade so it only felt right to use them as a theme for this assignment. Although I have used these photos in my work before, I hadn't found a way to come up with a completed artwork until now. This instalation is the first piece of art I have ever exhibited and I couldn't be more proud of it. I'm so excited so see what the MA will inspire me to creat next 🥹✨️

Seongmin Seo @minn.enough Q: What do you feel you’re going to take away from MA Arts and Learning that you perhaps didn’t have when you came to the course? Seongmin: “There was a lot of ‘aha moments’. The most valuable ‘aha moment’ was... I learned how to live with, staying with the difficulties in drawing, as well in my life. And I learned difficulty is natural and unavoidable. It’s a really good place to explore myself, explore the world, explore artistic practise. That’s the most valuable thing [I’ve] learned.”