SPOTTED: Alumnus Patrick Verhoeven uses art education for LGBTQI+ acceptance
- Fine Art
- Design
- Education in Art
For his finals for the Master's Education in Arts, Patrick Verhoeven developed a queer image bank for students around the theme of sexual & gender diversity, in order to encourage LGBT+ acceptance in secondary schools. He wrote about it in the Dutch magazine 'Gaykrant'.
"From being human as a homosexual and from commitment, I felt urgency to contribute to the LGBTQI+ and queer community," Patrick Verhoeven writes in the Gaykrant. He graduated from the Master's Education in Arts last year, in 2022. For his finals, he developed the #queer_beeldbank (queer imagebank): a digital repository of artworks that form the basis for conversations about sexual and gender diversity in secondary schools
From being human as a homosexual and from commitment, I felt urgency to contribute to the LGBTQI+ & queer community"
But it did not end at finals: he continued the queer image bank even after graduation. Around the image bank, he developed 'look & make lessons'. Together with students from a secondary school, they ponder an artwork from the queer image bank. "This specially chosen artwork is used as a 'conversation piece'," Patrick writes in the Gaykrant. The aim: to take time with the students to have a good conversation about art, queerness, and thereby also generate more empathy for other perspectives.
As the name suggests, the #queer_beeldbank is a repository, meaning it is a collection of art. The works from the image bank are carefully selcted by Patrick. "I assess the artwork for suitability for education where I aim for inclusivity in the gender diversity of the creators, for lgbtqi+ diversity in the subject matter and by including artists of colour and from non-western backgrounds," Patrick explains in the Gaykrant. "The idea is to use the artworks from the #queer_beeldbank to create a Denkraum (space of thought) for a richer art history."
Read the full article in the Gaykrant (in Dutch)
Read the story we wrote about Patrick's finals
Want to contribute to the #queer_beeldbank?
You can! You can find more information on how to contribute on the #queer_beeldbank website.
Go to website of #queer_beeldbank
More about the Master's Education in Art?
An artist educator aims to initiate action, to initiate movement, in behaviour and awareness. Artist educators inspire others to speak out, offering people a broader perspective: on themselves, society and the field. The Master's course Education in Arts encourages you to take a critical look at your position as an artist educator.