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Art UK is an art education charity and the online home for every public art collection in the UK. It aims to make the UK’s national art collection accessible for enjoyment, learning and research, showcasing art from over 3,500 British institutions, including more than 700,000 artworks by more than 68,000 artists.

 

The Superpower of Looking

Art UK’s The Superpower of Looking is an innovative and inclusive programme that seeks to transform the visual literacy skills of primary school children across the UK, taking the world of art as its starting point.

The free online resources support primary school teachers to develop students’ critical observation, analytical skills and oracy using high resolution digital reproductions of artworks. These resources include films, lesson plans, teacher training videos, and access to Art UK’s database of artworks. The Superpower of Looking programme is funded by the Freelands Foundation.

The original concept for The Superpower of Looking was brought to Art UK by Alison Cole.

Learn more about Art UK's The Superpower of Looking

Art UK's Chief Executive Andy Ellis

 

“We are delighted to be part of this partnership created and funded by Sybil Robson Orr and Matthew Orr, alongside the Government Art Collection and the University of Oxford. Amongst its significant outcomes and outputs, this research project will provide vital evidence of the impact of Art UK’s programme, The Superpower of Looking, on school children’s visual literacy. We have already seen 1,900 primary schools engage with this important resource in the classroom and we look forward to working with the Oxford research team to understand better the impact of Superpower, how we can improve it further and how, with our Picture This partners, we can prompt a major shift in the school curriculum towards visual literacy.”

Learn more about Art UK's Teacher Champion scheme

This free scheme supports and rewards teachers who use The Superpower of Looking in their classrooms, from tailor-made CPD and a limited-edition print, to the rare chance for an artwork to visit their school for the day

Teacher Champions
@thesuperpoweroflooking