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Activities | ArtReach

The Barber Education Department’s highly successful free annual outreach programme, ArtReach!, takes the gallery’s award-winning theatre company Annamation on tour for four weeks every year to bring the thrills and excitement of our unique Art Alive! performances to thousands of children in schools across Birmingham and the West Midlands. The theatrical productions we offer have been created to inspire, educate, and motivate children in their own pursuit of art. The 40-minute performances are based on the paintings from the Barber’s collection of world-renowned masterpieces and make important links across different subject areas of the National Curriculum, including Art, History and English. Over the last three years, we have visited 47 schools (38 primary and 9 secondary) and have already performed in front of more than 10,000 children. Key Stage 1: Rembrandt and Flinck The young aspiring artist Govaert Flinck leaves his home in the Dutch countryside to seek his fame and fortune in Amsterdam. He meets the great master Rembrandt and becomes his assistant, learning the art of portrait painting and composition. Key Stage 2: The Two Claudes Claude Lorrain has dreams of being a great pastry chef. But when he meets the eccentric Italian teacher, Signor Tassi, he realises he is far better at painting than baking! He learns the rules of perspective and sets off to paint the perfect landscape. Then, through some strange magical happenings, Claude Lorrain bumps into Claude Monet, who has come back in time to compare his Impressionist landscapes with those of the old master. Key Stage 3: Parallel Lives — Käthe Kollwitz and Gwen John This performance brings to life two of the most acclaimed female artists of the 20th century — the German Käthe Kollwitz and the Welsh Gwen John. Parallel Lives chronicles the artists’ formative years, their different experiences of World War I, and their unique artistic styles and processes.

To find out more information and to book places, please contact the Education Department on 0121 414 2261 or email us on: education@barber.org.uk