Arts Pioneers is a monthly art club for young people aged 11-19 with special educational needs and disabilities of mixed abilities.

What are Arts Pioneers sessions like?

Based at the Fitzwilliam Museum, we offer a friendly, supportive and flexible environment to enable young people to work with professional artists and develop their art skills and express their creativity. Assisted by support workers and museum educators, the group explore over half a million artworks and objects, participating in lots of different fun art activities.  

Members of the group work towards an Arts Award, a nationally recognised qualification that supports young people to develop their creative practice and leadership skills. 

How to become an Arts Pioneer

Arts Pioneers is open to families eligible for Short Breaks funding. Managed by local councils, this funding enables children and young people with disabilities to access community activities and develop their independence skills. An allocated personal budget can be used for agreed activities or support, providing the carer with a short break.

If you are in receipt of Short Breaks funding and your child is interested in joining Arts Pioneers, please contact your Social Worker or Disabled Children’s Early Help Co-ordinator, to see whether you can use your personalised budget to join the group.

If you are not currently in receipt of funding, you can visit the Cambridge County Council website to find out more and complete the self-referral form.

If you would like to have an informal chat about the group or would be interested in having a free taster session, please contact Marie Kennedy, Learning Associate: Young People at the University of Cambridge Museums: mfk25@cam.ac.uk

How can I book?

To hear about future events, sign up to our mailing list and select ‘Families with SEND’.

Upcoming events can be found on our What’s On page by selecting the ‘What’ filter and selecting ‘Disabled access events’, or on the University of Cambridge Museums Eventbrite.

For full accessibility information for each of our Museums, please visit each Museum’s website.

You might also be interested in...

A woman and two boys who are picking up sensory toys at a Disability Friendly Opening at the Sedgwick Museum.
Disability Friendly Openings for Families

These school holiday sessions are a chance for children with special educational needs and disabilities to explore our Museums at their own pace.

Find out more and book

Three people stand and look at glass cases at the Museum of Zoology. The young boy writes on a clipboard.
Creative Club

Join our holiday Creative Club for children aged 8-14 with special educational needs and disabilities. 

Join the Creative Club

A close up of two people's hands as they form clay in their hands at a Creative Club session.
SEND activities to try at home

Discover a series of SEND activities to try at home, including Artist Educator, Kaitlin Ferguson's short instruction films with two ‘levels’ of art activity.

See all SEND Home Activities