Pallant House Gallery over many years has sought to offer a meaningful and long term engagement to those members of its local community that want to be involved with it. This has developed through a series of opportunities that allow individuals to enter into the Gallery’s programmes in a way that is tailored to meet their needs and to focus the offer on enabling their aspirations. There is an avoidance of labelling and a focus on delivering projects and programmes that enable a broad range of people to access the Gallery.
There has been a gradual evolving of a series of principles that underpin the Community Programme at Pallant House Gallery. Some of these are legally enforced but nonetheless embraced and valued, such as the legislation of the last twenty years around disability, diversity and equality. Other principles have been derived from the continual reflective learning and experiences of staff and participants involved in the Programme. These have in turn evolved into a set of shared core values for working with people in the Community Programme at the Gallery:
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1. To treat everyone fairly and equally
2. To recognise that everyone is entitled to a creative life
3. To respect the individual and their creativity in whatever form it is presented
4. To support the growth and development of people in a way that is best suited to them and their creativity
5. To direct people towards what is most appropriate for their development whether at the Gallery or beyond
The innovative work carried out in the Learning and Community Programme at Pallant House Gallery has been recognised by The Adapt Award for Excellence in Access for its work with people with disabilities, the awarding of the Gulbenkian Prize for the museum of the year 2007 and the Partners in Art scheme was commended in the Museums and Heritage Awards as an example of innovative education practice.
To find out more about the Community Programme or to find out how to take part please email: community@pallant.org.uk