National Galleries of Scotland

Find out what’s happening in our brain when we look at and make art.

Motivate learners to engage with their natural heritage with these 10 simple challenges that can be used in any outdoor space with any age group.

Artist Jenny talks about the connection between art and life, what inspires her and whether art should be beautiful.

This short film outlines the work of artists who valued feelings above all else. Contains reference to suicide.

Find out about this group of artists who believed that art should come from the unconscious mind.

We all see things differently. These resources offer simple prompts to start a conversation about any artwork, with learners of all ages.

What is a Portrait? A Likeness? A connection between 2 people? Inspire your own class discussion by listening to artists, gallery staff and visitors describing what a portrait is to them.

This resource invites teachers to use images from the National Galleries of Scotland collection, such as Monarch of the Glen, as tools to encourage Creativity Skills and interdisciplinary learning.

These short films aim to raise awareness of jobs within the visual arts and support pupils to make informed choices based on their skills, strengths and preferences.

This short film explores why you’re likely to see more men than women in galleries and could lead into an exploration of who else is missing.

Learn how the ancient past has inspired artists, in this short film.

Use this short film as a starting point to explore your class ideas about art.

This short film suggests three practical ways for learners to express their views and beliefs effectively and protest issues or injustice in the world. Contains reference to school shootings.

Whether you want to introduce a new topic, encourage literacy or personalise learning, art postcards can be used in many ways across the curriculum.

Nobody else sees art the way you do. Here are 10 ideas to help you look and start a conversation.

What do your pupils consider valuable? This short film introduces the idea that there is more than monetary value influencing our views.

This resource is inspired by the artwork Lessons of the Hour by Isaac Julien. His artwork is informed by research on chattel slavery, and in particular, the life of formerly enslaved, influential anti-slavery activist and philosopher Frederick Douglass.

Art activities inspired by artists of colour. This learning resource considers how art can be a useful tool for understanding injustices, thinking about and making the changes we want to see in society.

Artists experiment to find their own unique way to use materials, whether they use paint, food, old junk or something else. These short videos share some experiments with cardboard, ink, pencil, 3D or things you find outdoors.

Art activities for children of all ages and stages to look at, talk about and make their own discoveries about art, at home. 

Consider how something controversial can become accepted and popular, in this short film.
 

This short film describes how artists through the ages have disrupted the status-quo, pushed boundaries and pioneered new ways of seeing the world.

Find out how artists reacted to the horrors of World War 1, rejected tradition to achieve fresh thinking and went on to inspire musicians like David Bowie.