Catalogue description Tate Gallery: Education: Papers, Correspondence and Photographs

The history of educational events in the Tate stretches back to 1914 when an official guide was appointed to conduct two parties a day and other groups by special appointment on a tour of the collection. The Gallery was closed from 1915 to 1920 but from 1921 a programme of official lectures was given by invited speakers. In 1928 Mr Edwin Fagg was appointed an official lecturer. Guided lectures were suspended in 1939 and not resumed until June 1951, with a part-time lecturer on the staff.

In 1967 a permanent full-time lecturer was appointed as the first step towards an education service; Education became a completely separate department in 1980. The permanent staff is supplemented by visiting lecturers and voluntary guides who are trained in the department. The Public Events section of Interpretation and Education deals with the adult events programme. Following the creation of Tate Modern and Tate Britain two separate Interpretation and Education departments were established at each site, each one mirroring the other.

The purpose of the Education Department is primarily to draw the attention of the public to works of art in the Collections and to communicate excitement and interest in them; to enable a more complete response from the public; and to provide information that may enhance that response. The principle means used are lectures, tours and poetry readings in the galleries; lectures, films, video and other audio-visual programmes, and symposia and discussions in the auditorium. Programmes of documentary and feature films that may be more distantly related to the Collections are also shown. Introductory courses are given to teachers, enabling them to bring parties to the exhibitions. School parties are offered work sheets and guided visits to the gallery. The Department produces a variety of publications. Holiday events are organised for children and their parents. The training of a group of Gallery Guides was set up in 1976 in collaboration with the Friends of the Tate Gallery. These volunteers are recruited every few years and trained in art history and appreciation as well as the techniques of public communication. They provide a programme of tours for the public, students and children. The Department mounts occasional exhibitions for the visually handicapped and gives special consideration to other disabled visitors.

Most of the material relating to education stems from the Education Department itself. This has been supplemented by a few related files which pre-date the existence of an official education service at the Tate.