This is how children receive a cultural education

In 2021, the Ministry of Culture again awarded Kamp-Lintfort the third update of the comprehensive concept of cultural education. What looks like a lot of bureaucracy and paperwork directly benefits the city’s children and youth. The prize of around 15,000 euros will also be invested this year in exciting projects in the field of cultural education. “Children should discover what they have outside of school, discover their abilities and talents in art, music, dance or theater and develop self-confidence”, explains Petra Niemöller, head of the cultural office, why the city supports cultural education.

All threads come together at the coordination center for cultural education: Petra Niemöller and her team are, so to speak, the pilots in the vast realm of cultural possibilities. With institutions, artists and cultural actors, a network based on information, training and exchange has now emerged. “Our aim is to bring culture into contact with children and young people throughout the educational chain”, explains Jennifer Wachtendonk, also responsible for the coordination office. Now that all the schools in the city have appointed cultural relays, she is delighted that 18 crèches are now also involved with a referent in the network.

In the past year, a lot has been done in the culture office for cultural education. Kamp-Lintfort has been a member of the Kultursekretariat NRW Gütersloh since July. Membership is essential for Kamp-Lintfort. The “naughty culture” project is a first result of this collaboration. In 2021, ten primary school classes participated, in 2022 there will already be 21 classes. The “culture rascals” explored the media library in 2021 and visited an art exhibition in the western orangery on the terrace garden of the Kamp monastery. Another project is planned for this summer: “City Occupation”. The idea, explains Jennifer Wachtendonk, is to transform a winch into a balcony with a parasol, flowers, a grill and music to visit the inhabitants of Kamp-Lintfort during their holiday on the balcony. A total of ten projects and funding applications are currently underway to enable even more exciting cultural projects for children and young people. For example, funding for two events comes from the “Culture Makes You Strong – Alliance for Education” program. The “App2music” project will start during the Easter holidays. Kids learn which music apps they can use to turn tablets and smartphones into versatile musical instruments. “We still have four places available for the Easter holidays. But the project also takes place during the summer holidays,” explains Wachtendonk. A primary school art project is planned with artist and art therapist Nicole Peters. Children are invited to carry out artistic projects for the public space on the theme of “Children’s Rights”. “We start with the elementary school in Pappelsee. Six days are planned for each school. The cultural backpack that the city has included in its program since 2016 is also complete for this year. A diversified offer invites children and young people aged 10 to 14 to experience art and culture in 15 different workshops. The project takes place in cooperation with the city of Neukirchen-Vluyn. “I keep getting calls from parents and kids wanting to know when things are going to start again,” says Wachtendonk.

Then, the coordination office set itself the goal of creating a pool of artists. This should make it easier for institutions to find lecturers for their cultural projects. All cultural sectors should be in the pool – from music to new media. “Freelancers can apply to us via a registration form,” reports Jennifer Wachtendonk. The idea is that those involved in arts education contact artists directly and implement their project ideas independently as needed.