Magic Lantern is an educational charity that delivers inspiring and accessible art history workshops in schools around the country demonstrating that anyone can enjoy and understand art. Every session is interactive – instead of telling the audience what they’re looking at the children are encouraged to tell us what they can see. They pose as characters in the painting, provide dialogue, sounds an
d actions, tell us what happened before, after or outside the paintings and become the artist, emulating brushstrokes and different artistic styles. We believe that it’s possible to teach pretty much anything through art. Paintings allow children to travel the world and back in time from the comfort of their classroom. History, geography, science and even maths can be illuminated through art. Issues including relationships, race, gender, immigration and the environment are all there to be discerned and discussed. Our sessions also help develop various skills in children. As well as honing their powers of observation and deduction, looking at and talking about paintings allows children to express their own ideas. It helps them with Speaking and Listening and encourages them to question and debate on a variety of levels. And while all of this is going on we are introducing children to some of the greatest works of art ever made – the majority of which can be seen free of charge around the UK – and helping to ignite a lifelong love of culture. We currently have eight presenters covering Greater London, Kent and Essex, the North East, Devon and Hampshire, and reach over 20,000 children each year. What teachers say about Magic Lantern:
“Truly Inspirational”
“Fantastically engaging and interactive”
“Accessible to all learners”
“Brilliant entry point to our topic”
