Welcome

Hello, my name is Alix Smith and I am the Learning and Outreach Coordinator for Ben Uri Gallery, the London Jewish Museum of Art. Ben Uri is The Art Museum for Everyone. I'm pictured here with Gabby Edlin who is the Assistant Learning and Outreach Coordinator at the museum. We have designed these learning resources to enable schools to learn all about the Ben Uri collection, even though it is currently in store and awaiting a larger permanent home. We also hope that the resources will be the starting point for a range of amazing art projects in schools across the country. Here at the museum we have a firm belief in Art for Everyone and we hope that the resources will provide schools with skills, tips, ideas or inspiration for the teaching of art in the classroom.

The Ben Uri Gallery, through its collection, explores the work, lives and contribution of British and European artists of Jewish descent, placed where relevant alongside their non-Jewish contemporaries. The collection of over 1000 artworks explores a wide range of diverse themes. (see History for more detail)

The teaching resources contain information and points of discussion about works from the collection under the themes of Relationships, Movement and A Sense of Place. Also included in the resources are examples of how schools have used the content in a number of innovative and creative ways. The Art Skills for Teachers resource provides suggestions and tips for using a variety of art techniques in the Primary School classroom.

The resources are starting points only and we fully appreciate and support the vast range of ways in which the works can be interpreted and practical visual art skills taught. For this reason we do hope that you will share your knowledge, practice and project examples with us so that we can continue to develop the learning resources for use by future schools. We always welcome feedback, ideas and work examples from teachers and pupils and we would love for you get in touch. We may even feature your projects on our website, or in our next teaching resource.

Ben Uri is also able to organise art projects in your school, and welcomes school visits to the museum. If you are interested in organising a visit, please use the 'Get in Touch' box to discuss.

If you have any further queries about using the resources in your classroom please do contact us and we will be happy to help. In the meantime, I hope that you enjoy exploring the Ben Uri collection and we wish you the best of luck for your projects!

Alix Smith
Learning and Outreach Coordinator
Ben Uri Gallery, The London Jewish Museum of Art, The Art Museum for Everyone