Impact case study database

Milroy’s research has introduced and embedded an approach to visual art education through provision of practical art workshops stemming from her artistic practice and research within primary and secondary schools in Kakuma Refugee Camp ( KRC), Kenya, through her creation and delivery of the ongoing Hands On Art Workshops ( HOAW) initiative with support from Vodafone Foundation ( VF) and the UN Refugee Agency ( UNHCR). Between 2015 and 2019, Milroy’s HOAWs have been delivered to KRC via 8 formal video conference workshops; Skype sessions; and 3 in-person mission visits. Now established as year-round programme, HOAWs encompass:

• 2 primary and secondary school art clubs ( A);

• UNHCR-sponsored employment of a Hands On Coach to deliver art workshops via the Hands On Gateway Bursary, providing one-year salary for a secondary school graduate and tuition for a developmental programme of the recipient’s choice;

• Hands On Art Workshops Scholarship, providing secondary school tuition for a primary school graduate associated with the Hands On Art Workshops programme.

KRC (established 1992) is currently home to 196,000 refugees of 21 nationalities, including 75,000 school-aged children, 42 primary and 7 secondary schools. Prior to Milroy’s workshops, KRC school children did not encounter visual art programmes through the school curriculum. Since Milroy’s initial engagement in KRC, HOAW has, as the UNHCR Education Officer confirms, ‘indirectly and directly benefitted 10,250 students and 150 teachers’, via 8 video conferencing workshops, and 3 trips to KRC, across 4 schools and the Community Centre ( B).

In November 2015, VF invited Milroy to deliver “Everyday Objects: A Drawing Workshop” (informed by R1, R2) via Instant Network Schools ( INS) video conferencing to 20 students in Dadaab Refugee Camp, Kenya. INS, an educational partnership between VF and UNHCR, gives young refugees, host communities and teachers access to digital learning content and the internet to improve the quality of education. Based on the success of this pilot workshop, VF invited Milroy to devise a programme of art workshops for primary and secondary school-aged students in KRC, Kenya, working with UNHCR Kakuma. Reflecting her still life painting practice ( R1, R2), Milroy centred the workshops on the themes of time, place and identity. In 2016 HOAW became an independent project within the INS programme, supported by UNHCR Kakuma.

Establishing a new precedent for visual art education for primary and secondary school-aged children in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya (KRC):

HOAW is the first visual art programme to have been delivered in partnership with UNHCR Kakuma in KRC, with support from VF. Through participation in HOAW, students in KRC have progressed in their artistic abilities, confidence, and articulacy: ‘from the tentative coal creations of the first video conferencing session where there were very few comments or questions among the student cohort, Lisa has helped the class develop into a passionate, vocal, energetic and highly skilled group’ ( C. former Head of Brand, Marketing & Events, Vodafone Foundation). Pupils (from a 2016 HOAW) attested that participation ‘give(s) me faith to believe that I can make it’ and ‘make me feel connected with nature’ ( A); and that they enjoyed ‘drawing real objects’ (of the type reflected in Milroy’s practice as seen in paintings such as Shoes, 2017 ( R1) and Dress, 2018 ( R2)). When asked which objects they brought to draw and what it represented, pupils’ answers included: ‘I brought a shoe – shoe represents for me what I wear at school. It protects me from thorns and hot stones’; the ‘model of a dove – I love birds so much and there are a lot of them in Kakuma’; and ‘a model of a radio – I love radio because this is the means of getting information in rural areas’ ( A). HOAW developed skills students identified as valuable to their futures: ‘It makes me happy’; ‘The art really means a lot to me. This is because it makes me work hard in order to achieve my goals and talent’ ( A).

A selection of paintings and drawings created by HOAW students in KRC was presented in an exhibition curated by Milroy, “Hands On” from 6-15th February 2020 at Elephant West, the freely accessible public cultural centre in West London run by Colart, the large international supplier of art materials. Colart’s Global Communications Manager confirms that the opening night attracted 150 people, ‘mainly consisting of new visitors’ including ‘due to the nature of the artworks on display [...] several art teachers and students from local schools. It represented a vital educational purpose within the local community’ ( D).

Promoting the sustainability of visual art education in KRC through the creation of art-clubs, independent learning resources, and employment of artists to enable a year-round programme:

In 2016, in response to students’ enthusiasm for art-related activities through HOAW, UNHCR Kakuma set up a week-long Art Boot Camp (led by Lodwar-based artist Fatuma Abdul and subsequently Michael Adeer, professional artist living in KRC), which grew into a regular event delivered during the academic breaks in KRC. In 2017, under Milroy’s guidance, HOAW students at 2 primary schools in KRC (Angelina Jolie Primary School and Morneau Shepell Secondary School) formed their own Art Clubs, initially naming them the “Golden Stars” and “Blue Sky Divers”. To facilitate independent art practice and encourage local ownership of the programme, Milroy devised the ever-evolving ‘Hands On Self-Directed Art Workshops’ manual, again stemming from her practice. Formatted on A4-size paper, the manual has been shared via email and can be printed locally. It is offered to students, teachers and professional artists in KRC to facilitate HOAW, where the workshops may be tailored and the manual added to, to reflect and engage individual perspectives.

In 2018, Milroy addressed the lack of provision of art materials to support programme delivery in KRC schools, securing corporate sponsorship from Colart, who donated art materials with a retail value of GBP15,000 and the GBP4,000 cost of freighting them to Kenya, in recognition of ‘the unique programme Milroy had developed ( D). UNHCR Kakuma administer the donation, providing designated INS schools in KRC with a store of art materials to support HOAW all year-round. In summer 2020, Milroy set up the Hands On Gateway Bursary. In September 2020, the first recipient began her employment as Hands on Coach in KRC under the direction of UNHCR Kakuma. Drawing upon new workshop guidelines provided by Milroy as well as her own experience as a former secondary school student of HOAW, she delivered twice-weekly art workshop sessions, open to all in a community hub during the Covid-19 pandemic, where ‘approximately 30 participants per day’ attended ( B). Milroy generates funds for the annual Hands On Art Workshops Scholarship and Hands On Gateway Bursary through her artistic practice, and both Scholarship and Bursary are administered by Windle International Kenya.

Informing organisational approaches to visual art programmes by partnering with global bodies (UNHCR); charitable partners (Vodafone Foundation), and corporate sponsors (Colart).

HOAW has assisted UNHCR in attaining key strategic goals. As the former UNHCR Senior Protection Coordinator attests: ‘The Hands On project aligns with UNHCR strategy to provide refugees with opportunity for artistic and talent development, as well as create connection, sense of community and overcome trauma and distress. Students and teachers have expressed their joy to be provided with a platform to break learning monotony and engage in the beauty of artistic expression’ ( E). The 2018 UNHCR report Turn the Tide: Refugee Education in Crisis, which highlighted the need for strong partnership to break down the barriers to education for 7,400,000 refugee children under UNHCR’s mandate, called their Instant Network Schools programme a ‘bridge to the world’ and specifically cited HOAW as an example of how technology can improve the learning opportunities available to refugees (p. 46; F). In the report, UNHCR recognised the significance of ‘teaming up with technology’ and singled out Milroy as one of the ‘global leaders’ delivering video conferencing workshops in partnership with the VF. HOAW has also contributed to the organisational capacity of schools in Kakuma to deliver visual art education and thereby increased progress towards UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 4: ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, alongside benefiting the local professional artist community. In its encouragement and support of female students at Angelina Jolie Primary School and Morneau Shepell Secondary School, HOAW contributed towards the achievement of UN SGD 4, target 4.5: ‘By 2030, eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for the vulnerable, including […] children in vulnerable situations.’

Colart’s donation of GBP15,000 of discontinued products assisted Colart in achieving their sustainability goals and KPIs. Their 2025 strategy aims to ‘remove, reduce, reuse and recycle throughout our production and supply chains’ and ‘engage with local communities’. HOAW was profiled prominently in their 2019 Sustainability Report ( G). For VF, HOAW ‘acted as a catalyst [...] to consider how technology and connectivity can open up opportunities for learning and creativity for young people growing up in the confines of refugee camps’, and brought visual arts into the scope of their programme, which had previously ‘focussed on creating access to traditional education and STEM subjects’ ( C). It ‘inspired employees, challenging typical perceptions of what our tech and network can provide’ ( C) and led to a new collaboration with Milroy to mark the United Nations’ International Day of Education on 24th January 2020: the world’s first ‘live-streamed school trip for refugees’ in which pupils in KRC visited the National Gallery using VR headsets and tablets. Milroy hosted the tour, exploring a selection of 9 paintings on the theme of ‘time’ (a thematic focus of Milroy’s research as well). The event attracted international media coverage, with the Director of Collections and Research at the National Gallery, commenting: ‘To think of children in Kenya, and all over the world being inspired by art here is truly wonderful,’ (in H, ‘Young refugees in Kenya take a VR school trip to London's National Gallery’, CNN 24/01/2020).