01. Editorial: GLAD-HE 2025 Post-Symposium Publication “Where art School Leads”

Published by: Creative Pedagogy

Volume: 1 Issue: 1 Year: 2026

Editors: Jess Power, Louise O’Boyle and Davina Whitnall

Group for Learning in Art and Design (GLAD HE)

Corresponding editor: GLADPubConf@outlook.com

There are moments in the creative education calendar when the energy in the room signals that something is shifting. GLAD 2025 symposium (05-09-2025) was one of those moments. As delegates gathered at the iconic Nottingham School of Art & Design, the atmosphere carried a sense of urgency and purpose: not simply to share practice, but to articulate what it means for art schools to lead at a time when the cultural, economic and technological landscapes are being rapidly redrawn.

Right from the opening keynote by Caroline Norbury OBE, the message was clear: creative education is not a peripheral luxury it is an essential element of civic infrastructure. The creative sector drives prosperity, shapes public imagination and equips society with the capacities it needs to navigate uncertainty. The is no doubt that the 2026 symposium was timely given the political and economic challenges in the current Higher Education landscape. In a world were uncertainly has become the new norm the creative sector has so much to offer as both a refuge and innovator. Yet the language surrounding our disciplines too often defaults to scarcity. The symposium challenged this narrative head‑on, foregrounding the scale, substance and societal value of art and design education. Across the day, conversations returned to the need to reclaim our story, one rooted in contribution, capability and collective impact. What emerged from the symposium, and is reflected in this special edition, is a set of six interconnected themes that illuminate “where art school leads” and more importantly how it leads. These themes do not sit in isolation; they braid together to form a picture of a sector that is adaptive, critical, relational and future‑facing. This special edition is a collection of 6 posters (some with a spoken narrative) and 5 more traditional academic papers. We have drawn out some of the highlights under six separate but interrelated themes.