Art Starts is a new model for arts and culture access: a fully resourced, curriculum-linked programme created by the Natalia Cola Foundation to provide open access to arts and culture for students in state schools with the highest levels of pupil premium* funding.
Designed for young people outside London with the least access to arts and culture, Art Starts delivers programming in response to the long-term decline in arts education, and the unequal way that decline has affected state schools, working directly with schools to connect students with the heritage sites, artworks, artefacts, and cultural experiences they are least likely to access.
Through guided collection tours, art analysis, creative self-exploration, and skills-based workshops, Year Nine students engage directly with art, art history, and heritage, building visual literacy, oracy, and confidence in cultural spaces at the pivotal moment before GCSE choices.
The programme has been developed with support from an Advisory Committee bringing decades of experience across the arts, heritage, education, and public engagement, helping shape Art Starts as a thoughtful and rigorous school-ready model.
*Pupil premium is the UK government grant for pupils facing disadvantage, specifically those eligible for free school meals or looked after by the local authority, and those previously eligible or looked after in the past six years.
What schools and students receive
- Fully funded school trip, with travel, meals, and materials provided and all practical costs covered, removing the financial barriers that often prevent schools from accessing arts and heritage experiences.
- Carefully structured itinerary designed around each host site and collection, with Art Starts managing the organisation, materials, and learning resource creation, aligning school curriculum objectives directly with the artworks students study — making the day relevant to individual school experiences and learning.
- Online and offline follow-up resources for schools and students, including free return visits to National Trust properties, access to the London Art Studies online resources, and arts and culture career guidance.
- Curriculum-linked experience of guided collection engagement and hands-on creative workshops, delivered by professional workshop facilitators and designed to build confidence, visual literacy, and curiosity around art, heritage, and culture.
- Methodical and detailed student resource to support the visit in the form of a specially designed zine, comprising accessible interpretation, creative prompts, space for students to record their own responses, and art historical analysis of the artworks they study. The zine also serves as a lasting memento of their day.
“Art Starts exists because too many young people are still shut out of arts and culture simply because of where they live, where they go to school, and what opportunities they are given. We want to change that in a practical way.”
The Pilot
The Art Starts pilot took place at Ickworth House, a National Trust property in Suffolk, with two local schools selected through a targeted access-led process. Schools were identified based on high levels of pupil premium funding, a UK Government grant for pupils who are eligible for free school meals, have been eligible in the past six years, or are, or have previously been, in local authority care. We also took into account wider indicators and data metrics of cultural and geographic access, including local arts funding (Arts Council Funding categorisation), deprivation data (Index of Multiple Deprivation), and museum and gallery attendance, to ensure the pilot reached students least likely to have regular access to arts and heritage experiences.
Explore the collection
Programme Aims
Art Starts was created to help close the gap in all that disadvantaged students are denied without arts and culture access.
Arts Access
Facilitate open access to museums, galleries, and resources for state schools, primarily those with significant pupil premium populations.
Heritage Access
Cultivate a sense of belonging in heritage spaces for young people who may not see these spaces as “for them”.
Skills & Confidence
Build visual literacy, oracy, and critical thinking that supports wider humanities and GCSE-level creative and cultural work.
Future Pathways
Make future pathways visible in the arts and culture sector where fewer than 1 in 10 workers have working-class roots.
Why this matters
Arts Starts provides open access to arts and culture to communities outside London, reaching students at the moment unequal exposure really begins to shape future pathways and what feels possible.
of arts funding is concentrated in London.
of state schools report cutting trips due to government underfunding. This increases to 68% in disadvantaged areas.
of young people between 11–15 have visited a heritage site.
of teachers report not taking their class on a museum trip in the past year.
Our People
Pilot Team
Jasper Greig
Project Manager & Director of The Natalia Cola Foundation
Serafina Kerr-Parkinson
Project Manager & Director of The Natalia Cola Foundation
Joseph Murray
Education Lead
Riki Auton
Art Director
Claudia Winkleman
BAFTA award-winning TV Presenter, Radio Personality & Journalist
“Art Starts provides a brilliant way for students to engage with broader humanity and cultural sector opportunities through art history. This is a fantastic initiative.”
Advisory Committee
Natalia Cola
Founder of The Natalia Cola Foundation
Rebecca Lyons
Director of Pitzhanger Manor & Gallery and former Director of the Royal Academy of Arts’ Collections, Library, Archive, Learning and Public Programmes
Dr Joe Spence FRSA
CEO of the Schools Partnerships Alliance and former Master of Dulwich College
Alayo Akinkugbe
Journalist & Author of Reframing Blackness: What’s Black About ‘History of Art’?
Kate Gordon
Founder of London Art Studies, Co-Founder of the Association of Women in the Arts (AWITA) & Chair, Serpentine Patrons
Gemma Stewart-Richardson
Brand Partnerships & Communications Strategist
Deborah Smith
Art Curator & Consultant and former Director of the Arts Council Collection
Read the work in full.
Our Impact Report — the data, the programme design, and the case for Art Starts beyond Ickworth.
