“AI is scary territory”: Art teacher – one 64, one 29 – on cuts, creativity and life in a career under threat

WWhen 64-year-old Sue Cabourn began her career in the late 1990s, the next generation of artists, including Damien Hirst, Tracey Emin and Gillian Wearing, dominated the cultural agenda. Everyone had a state education, but if they had gone to school now, things might have turned out differently.

There has been an exodus of art teachers (from 2011 to 2024, the number in English state secondary schools fell by 27%) and reduced demand (48% fewer students have taken art subjects at GCSE since 2010), and a reformed system that critics say has stifled creativity and prioritized core subjects (science and technology) over arts and humanities.

The arts have also suffered heavy losses outside of school. Last year, the Campaign for the Arts said local authority spending on culture in England had been cut by more than 50% per person since 2010. It sounds like a dark time to try to inspire the next generation of budding artists, but that hasn’t stopped 29-year-old Jasmine Pert…