Introduction to Burberry Inspire

Burberry Inspire brings together eight schools in Yorkshire with four prominent arts organisations: Leeds Playhouse,  Northern Ballet,  The Hepworth Wakefield  and  Leeds Young Film, providing students with in-depth experiences of theatre, dance, art and film.

Through an inspiring Artist in Residence programme in each school The Hepworth Wakefield has delivered cultural experiences, workshops, creative projects and events for their school communities.

“This is a great resource; I am really pleased the students get this opportunity. You are giving them experiences that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to access.” Art Teacher,  Leeds East Academy

Burberry Inspire has reached more than 10,000 students, with an estimated 73,007 individual interactions between the Burberry Inspire Programme and students.

Across the four years The Hepworth Wakefield delivered 32 cultural experience days at the gallery, 750 artist-led workshops in-school and virtually, and created 5200 material kits during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

100% of teachers involved believe the Burberry Inspire programme increased students’ ability to take risks and try something new.

82% of teachers say student confidence has improved.

Over the first year of the Burberry Inspire programme The Hepworth Wakefield partnered with two Wakefield schools, Airedale Academy and Castleford Academy, working with over 1200 key stage 3 students to explore the theme ‘Inspire Heritage‘.

All students were welcomed to the gallery for cultural experience days, enjoying a variety of workshops and meaningful experiences of sculpture and art.

During creative projects in school, students worked with our Artists-in-Residence to explore a wide range of artistic processes and mediums. Young people also took part in weekly after-school clubs, supported by artists to produce their own artwork and develop their confidence to showcase this at the end of year cultural runway.

“Working with artists from The Hepworth made me feel awesome … I want to be like them, this is what I want to do.” Student, Castleford Academy, Year 1 of project

In year 2 The Hepworth Wakefield worked with 1000 key stage 3 students from Dixons Unity Academy and Leeds East Academy. Exploring the theme of ‘Inspired Journeys‘, students worked with our Artist-in-Residence across a series of gallery visits, in-school projects and after-school clubs to experiment with new processes and techniques in art and photography.

“Working with the artists has taught me to have confidence in my skills. It’s made me feel creative and inspired.” Student, Dixons Unity Academy, Year 2 of the programme

During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, students continued their creative journey at home during a six-week project with weekly artist-led films and activity sheets. Students took part in a range of accessible, creative activities that developed their mark making techniques and sculptural understanding, culminating in a mini-exhibition in their home showcasing their creative outcomes.

During year 3 of  Burberry Inspire, The Hepworth Wakefield partnered with  South Craven School  and  Carlton Keighley to engage 1275 students with artist in residence projects both at home during remote learning and virtually in-school.

“Students have noticeably become more confident and bolder in their work. They have developed a sense of individual creativity and appreciation for their own work and are proud of what they have achieved.” Teacher, Carlton Keighley

Students continued their creative journey with The Hepworth the following year, visiting the gallery for a series of cultural experience days.

“Burberry Inspire was meaningful because I learned a lot about myself during the time working with The Hepworth.” Student, South Craven School

In the final year of  Burberry Inspire, The Hepworth Wakefield worked with 1280 students from  Co-op Academy Leeds  and  The Ruth Gorse Academy.  Students worked with artists in school and at the gallery to develop their confidence to explore new ways of making and being creative.

The year culminated in a Cultural Runway event at  Leeds Playhouse, bringing together students from the eight Burberry Inspire  schools, artists, creative educators and school communities to celebrate the young people’s creative journey during the four-year programme.

“All the workshops were new things to me, and they were very fun and inspirational. Today has made me feel more engaged, inspired and imaginative because I learnt a lot.” Student, The Ruth Gorse Academy

Leeds Playhouse will help students explore their sense of what it means to represent the future of Yorkshire today with the opportunity to work with voice coaches, public speakers and performers.

Leeds Young Film will run filmmaking related workshops to develop transferable skills including documentary, music video, vlogging and art film; developing the students’ technical abilities, problem solving and creative communication.

Northern Ballet will introduce the students to creative dance, developing their confidence and team working skills and helping them to discover different ways to express themselves through a universal language of movement for diverse communities.

The Hepworth Wakefield will support students to explore the relationship between place, emotion and identity, and provide an opportunity for the students to express themselves through a range of creative mediums, from printmaking to sculpting.