‘Learning Exchange: Art Education Matters’ Comes to Somerset

The series of panel discussions explored topics such as teaching as an artistic practice and learning as a reciprocal process; how artists engage and operate within education; the idea of teaching as an artistic discipline; how to encourage participation in the visual arts and the support a diversity of practice; and the impact of residencies.

Hosted by Hauser & Wirth Director Dea Vanagan, invited panelists that share the gallery’s passion for learning included artist Allison Katz, curator Frances Morris, Hauser & Wirth’s inaugural writer-in-residence Leela Keshav; Hauser & Wirth’s Curatorial Senior Director Tanya Barson; Director of Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, Jane Sillis; artist, educator and Director of Freelands Foundation Henry Ward; artist and educator Dr Natasha Kidd; and Hauser & Wirth’s Learning Manager Alan Kirwan.

In addition, curator Frances Morris spoke about the origins of our Somerset gallery’s current exhibition, ‘Phyllida Barlow. unscripted,’ exploring the British artist’s transformative approach to sculpture and gave an insight into the legacy of Phyllida Barlow as an innovative artist-educator. Barlow’s life-long engagement with arts education, and notably her ethos of there being ‘no right or wrong way’ to be creative, was the inspiration behind Somerset’s Education Lab, ‘Open Art School.’ It draws on the latest thinking within creative pedagogy and experimental learning. ‘Open Art School’ provides an interactive space for new ideas, explorations and working methods, inviting a multitude of voices and communities to engage through making.

About the Speakers

Tanya Barson
Tanya Barson has been Curatorial Senior Director at Hauser & Wirth since 2021. Amongst selected recent projects, she has curated the exhibitions ‘Exemplary Modern: Sophie Taeuber-Arp with Contemporary Artists,’ Hauser & Wirth, New York, 69th Street (2023); ‘The Mother & The Weaver: Art from the Ursula Hauser Collection,’ The Foundling Museum, London, UK (2023); and ‘Larry Bell: Works from the 1970s,’ Hauser & Wirth, Monaco (2024). Barson was previously Chief Curator at MACBA, Barcelona, Spain (2016 – 2021); Curator, Tate Modern, London, UK (2007 – 2016), and has held curatorial positions at Tate since 1997.

Allison Katz
Allison Katz was born in Montreal, Canada in 1980 and currently lives and works in London, UK. She studied Fine Arts at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada and received her MFA from Columbia University in New York NY. Katz received widespread critical recognition for her first travelling UK solo exhibition ‘Artery’ at Nottingham Contemporary in 2021 and Camden Art Centre, London, UK in 2022. Her work was included in the 59th International Art Exhibition of the Venice Biennale, Italy, curated by Cecilia Alemani. In 2022, Katz was an inaugural Fellow of Pompeii Commitment, the first contemporary art programme of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Italy. Additional significant institutional solo exhibitions of her work have been organised by the MIT List Center for the Arts, Cambridge MA; Oakville Galleries, Oakville, Canada; and Kunstverein Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany. ‘In the House of the Trembling Eye,’ a major group exhibition staged by Katz, is currently on view at the Aspen Art Museum CO.

Leela Keshav
Leela Keshav is a writer, artist and spatial practitioner from Canada who recently completed her graduate studies at the Architectural Association in London, UK. Her art-based research explores the intersection of ecology, power structures and modes of resistance. In May 2024, she was Hauser & Wirth Somerset’s inaugural writer-in-residence, where she explored situated writing methodologies that engaged with her cultural and ecological surroundings. Her work has been published in ArtReview, Architectural Review, ROOM Magazine, AArchitecture, London Festival of Architecture and elsewhere.

Dr Natasha Kidd
Dr Natasha Kidd is an artist interested in the distinct way artists learn. Best known for her automated painting systems, she is a reader in art practice and pedagogy at Bath School of Art, Film and Media in Bath, UK. Kidd works with artist Jo Addison, collaborating on projects such as ‘Inventory of Behaviours,’ which explores the patterns and procrastinations of artists. Addison and Kidd have over 20 years of experience working together with leading galleries, delivering workshops, contributing to unique museum public programing, participating in research groups with institutions such as Tate, Camden Art Centre, Whitechapel Gallery and Chisenhale Gallery, all in London, UK. Kidd completed her D-Phil at the University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, in 2018 and lives and works in Bath.

Alan Kirwan
Alan Kirwan is Hauser & Wirth’s Learning Manager, overseeing learning programs in the organization’s London and Somerset galleries. He has worked in gallery and museum learning programing for over 20 years within an international cultural context. Kirwan’s career includes previous senior leadership roles at the Association for Art History UK, National Museum of Qatar and House of European History, an initiative of the European Parliament in Belgium.

Frances Morris
Frances Morris is a curator, writer and broadcaster. She was the Director at Tate Modern, London, UK, until 2023. Morris has curated many exhibitions, publications and public programs at Tate, including acclaimed retrospectives of Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama and Agnes Martin, and most recently co-curating ‘Hilma Af Klint & Piet Mondrian: Forms of Life’ (2023).

As Director of Collections, International Art, from 2006 – 2016, Morris led the transformation of Tate’s International Collection, strategically broadening and diversifying its international reach and representation, as well as bringing photography, moving image and live art into the institution for the first time through acquisitions, displays and exhibitions. During her tenure, Morris championed Tate’s responses to climate and ecological emergency, exploring how cultural institutions can best respond and adapt to the complex planetary and societal impacts of the crisis. Morris is currently a Distinguished Visiting Professor at Ewha University, Seoul, South Korea, and her exhibition ‘Agnes Martin: Moments of Perfection’ opened at The Sorol Museum, Gangwon, South Korea in May 2024.

Jane Sillis
Since 2005, Jane Sillis has been Director of Engage, the National Association for Gallery Education, a Trustee of both Spike Island, Bristol, UK, and Sharpham Trust, Devon, UK. Working as a consultant from 1999 –2005, Sillis established an arts program with homeless people for ‘Look Ahead Housing and Care’ and has worked with Clore Duffield Foundation, Tate, National Gallery, British Council and DfE. She was a trustee of Iniva (2008 – 2018) and Chisenhale Gallery, London, UK (2000 – 2005) and led the education programmes at Whitechapel Gallery, London, UK (1994 – 1999) and Ikon Gallery, Birmingham, UK (1986 – 1989). She has published widely and spoken internationally on engagement and participation within visual arts.

Henry Ward
Henry Ward is an artist and the Director of Freelands Foundation, a charity that supports art education. Alongside his practice as an artist, he has worked extensively in arts education, teaching at both secondary school and university level, as well as lecturing internationally on approaches to art education. Ward’s research explores teaching as an artistic practice and investigates the symbiotic relationship between teaching and making. He completed his doctorate at Middlesex University, London, UK, in 2013. In 2002, he founded the alTURNERtive Prize, and in 2011 the art and education periodical Æ.