Educational provision and professional training for youth in contemporary art museums: YouthInMuseums

Programme(s): H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility

Topic(s): MSCA-IF-2019 - Individual Fellowships

Call for proposal: H2020-MSCA-IF-2019

Funding Scheme: MSCA-IF-EF-CAR - CAR – Career Restart panel

Grant agreement ID: 892010

Project description:

Youth training in contemporary art museums

Europe’s contemporary art museums represent an excellent career opportunity in the creative sector. It is suggested that youth can be successfully trained on a professional level through EU programmes. The EU-funded YouthInMuseums project will focus on the rise of youth programmes in art museums and analyse the potential of a tier-based structure in which youth are involved. It will also consider the possibilities of professional development outside of formal education. The project will apply a participatory action research approach focused on a pilot case study co-developed by a group of young people and in the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon. The project aims to improve our understanding of young people’s sociocultural interests and how youth programmes can help to inspire museum planning.

Objective:

This project aims to research the educational provision and professional training available for youth in contemporary art museums, and how can these programmes enhance young people’s sense of agency and career opportunities in the creative sector. Focusing on the emergent turn in contemporary art museums across Europe towards programmes that offer young people professional training, this project will further analyse the potential of a tier-based structure when engaging with this age group, as it gives participants distinct access points into the life of museums, as well as new possibilities for their personal, social and professional development outside of formal education. Using a participatory action research approach, the project focuses on a pilot case study to be co-developed with a group of young people and the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) in Lisbon, and analysed in tandem with three pioneer youth programmes in Portugal (Culturgest), Spain (Museo Reina Sofia) and the UK (Tate). Expected outcomes include a deeper understanding of young people’s sociocultural interests: their perceptions, motivations and expectations about art and museums; and of how long-term youth programmes can inform museums' future programming for this age group. The project will be strengthened by the background and professional experience of the researcher in art and museum education, alongside contribution from other disciplinary perspectives, including youth studies, through researchers at the host institution. It aims to create both academic outputs as well as material and content for public engagement and dissemination.