Pilot prosject: Lilleby School

Art as a bridge builder: A pilot project for learning, life mastery, and inclusion

Lademoen Kunstnerverksteder (LKV) and Lilleby School have entered into a four-year pilot collaboration (2025–2029) aimed at giving all pupils from 1st to 4th grade regular encounters with art. Each class will visit every exhibition at BABEL, totaling six visits per year. This includes approximately 120 pupils and eight teachers—amounting to 48 guided tours annually.

Equal access to art is a vital component of democracy. Through early and consistent exposure to art, we aim to demystify contemporary art, counter social exclusion, and foster lasting relationships between children, families, and the local community. With this project, we seek to develop a sustainable model for collaboration between schools and art institutions—where art becomes a natural part of the classroom and is actively used in work related to public health and life mastery, a cross-disciplinary theme in Norway’s national curriculum, Kunnskapsløftet 2020.

A key condition for the development of this collaboration is a low threshold for participation. The school is located just 500 meters from LKV, and teachers are not required to prepare in advance or follow up after the visit. This ensures regular contact with art without placing additional burdens on educators. We also want the threshold to be low for children to return to BABEL—either on their own or with their families. Admission is free for everyone—always.

The ambition is to establish a permanent educational program at LKV, rooted in the local community, with children as active and regular participants.

The pilot collaboration also includes a research dimension: Ph.D. candidate Nora Finseraas at NTNU is incorporating the project into her ongoing public-sector Ph.D., «Betydning av områderettet innsats for barn og unge i utsatte situasjoner» (2024–2028).