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The need for this project derives from the current social and economic situation in Europe, where youth unemployment rates are high. Youth, therefore, face many difficulties in finding a job, and even more so if they are looking for a job in art. Artists are generally self-employed and face an unpredictable future. This is why we want our students to extend their knowledge from just one field of artistic creation to various ones. We believe that all around artists with a strong entrepreneurial awareness will have better chances of employment. The project involves three secondary art schools from Slovenia, Bulgaria and Italy. Our starting point was the realization that for a successful career in art our graduate students need much more than just expertise in one specific area of artistic creation, for example fine arts. This project gives them the opportunity to perfect the basic skills needed to become successful all around artists, to use their skills in other field of artistic creation, and become confident in areas such as story building, script writing, filming, animation, product designing and advertising to mention just a few. All with the aim to give our students the chance to expand their knowledge from a single field of interest to various ones, and help them with employability. The three schools all share very similar programmes but on the other hand each school has its unique advantages. The school from Bulgaria has already successfully integrated entrepreneurship into their curriculum; the Italian school can offer a specific insight into marketing of the Italian cultural heritage. All three schools feel the need to prepare our students for the future. But we also know that our history and culture offers us a rich source of inspiration and a sense of uniqueness. That’s why the Italian school will organize classes on Renaissance art and the Slovenian school will prepare an excursion to the region of Prekmurje, where the students can learn from the local craftsmen about an almost extinguished art of black clay baking. We have planned two types of activities: the ones that will be carried out in each of our schools in the same time (e.g. creation of presentation materials for each school, turning students' hobbies into business ideas) and the ones that will be carried out abroad during three transnational learning and teaching activities. For the transnational learning and teaching activities we planned workshops where the students will pass through all the stages of designing a product- from the idea till packaging, logo and advertising it. During this time they will be working in small groups in a non-formal environment, some workshops will be carried out in situ alongside traditional craftsmen and mentors. Students will get involved in areas of artistic creation, like visual communication and animation, which demand an extended knowledge in digital technology. Students and teachers alike will learn about successful business practices, they will also produce OER materials, such as videos, application for a creation of a digital portfolio and brochures.

ACTIVITIES CARRIED OUT AT SCHOOLS:

1. Introduction of the project at schools

2. Creation of the logo for the project

3. Creation of the project web site and facebook profile

4. Students create presentations of their schools (video or picture presentation). They would have to analyze the positives of their school, to present the different specialties and their expectations for the project.This way they will know what to expect when visiting the host schools and the integration will be much easier.

5. ’An Eye to the Future’’ – students decide which objects define them the most as artists and human beings, and envision what archaeologists or art historians might think of our civilization 500 years from now; students also focus on national identity and cultural background, which will give other partners an insight into the cultural and artistic diversity of the 3 partner countries – project work in any technique (painting, sculpting, modelling, film, 3D animation, role play, comic book, short story writing); applying transversal skills of art history, fine arts, graphics, animation, ICT competences and linguistic skills. Results posted on project website; video clips posted on YouTube/Vimeo; written material and photos published in a brochure and distributed as free material; each school prepares an exhibition

6. ‘’My hobby, my profession’’ – students turn their hobbies into business ideas with the use of on-line posters, promotional leaflets, business cards, promotional videos. Best promo material (posters, leaflets, business cards and texts) published in a brochure and distributed as free material.

7. Students get familiar with the Europass platform; they learn how to write letters of application, motivational letters, CVs, they assess their linguistic knowledge through the use of the Language Passport.

8. Creation of the digital portfolios of students’ work

9. Dissemination of results in the form of school exhibitions, lectures and articles in local newspapers

10. Evaluation after the first year of work in the form of a short report

11. Evaluation of results after the second year through an on-line questionnaire for students and teachers and publishing the results on the project’s web page

TRANSNATIONAL LEARNING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES

ITALY – FEBRUARY 2016

  • An outstanding Art Portfolio” implementation of a self-promotional digital book; application for iPad or Android tablet systems and digital PDF for the project website and school websites .
  • “Florentine Art during Renaissance” an introduction to the works displayed in Uffizi Museum and visit.
  • Meeting with a representative of the local Chamber of Commerce, talk on youth entrepreneurship and post-graduate job training
  • Cultural heritage in the city of Florence, crucial for artistic development and cultural awareness of future artists
  • Visit to the Museo di Doccia, Richard Ginori historical museum of porcelain and fine bone china.
  • Teachers during their stay also exchange good teaching practices with the teachers at the host school.

SLOVENIA – SEPTEMBER 2016

  • Workshop "Material- Technology - Realization". The students will pass through all the stages of designing a T-shirt - from the idea till packaging, logo and advertising it.
  • Ceramics, pottery, sculpting and modeling the traditional way, a trip to Prekmurje, where students learn from local craftsmen and witness the traditional black clay baking. Followed by a school exhibition.
  • Stop motion animation, which promotes Erasmus+ values (youth, cooperation, entrepreneurial spirit, languages, cultural heritage, etc.); the final product being video featured on the project website and school websites, YouTube/Vimeo.
  • Meeting with a representative of an Artists Cooperative, talk on innovative business models (social enterprise).
  • Cultural heritage in the city of Ljubljana; crucial for artistic development and cultural awareness of future artists.
  • Visit to the Academy of Fine Arts; possibilities of studying abroad.
  • Live streaming to Italy and Bulgaria of the seminar and/or the stop motion workshop (reaching broader audiences).
  • Teachers during their stay also exchange good teaching practices with the teachers at the host school.

BULGARIA – APRIL 2017

  • Workshop "Material- Technology - Realization". The students will pass through all the stages of designing a product- from the idea till packaging, logo and advertising it. The students will design a souvenirs- separately in groups depending on their choice- toy or jewellery from different materials- textile, wood, metal, glass, using different technologies. They will create drawings, blueprints, constructive designs, soft models. The work will go through a few stages- designing the idea, drawing, making models, working in material with different technologies and machines and in the end creating a logo and packaging. This way the student will learn that the art of design is a comprehensive process with many stages, goals and criteria.
  • Cultural heritage in the city of Sofia- cross point of different ancient cultures- Greeks, Thracians, Slavs, Bulgarians- good example of multiculturalism in European heritage.
  • Presentation of project "Start" ( Junior Achievement BG and Bulgarian Ministry of Economic and Energetic) for increasing of students' entrepreneurship. Presentation of positive examples, the basic principles in the program, advices and guidelines.
  • Visits of National Art Academy- possibilities of studying abroad, presentation of Bulgarian art bachelors and masters program.
  • Teachers during their stay also exchange good teaching practices with the teachers at the host school.

With this project we also want to improve our students’ linguistic competence, English proficiency in particular, their digital competence, and raise their cultural awareness. The world of art is beautiful but also extremely competitive. That's why our students need to learn that it takes constant, lifelong learning to stay on top.