Tracey Emin has warned there will be more inner city riots if the arts are not a core part of the Government’s education reforms.
The artist, a Conservative supporter, has backed a campaign led by organisations including Tate to make arts subjects part of the new English baccalaureate.
Opponents of Education Secretary Michael Gove’s plans have warned that if arts are not regarded as “core” they will be dropped in favour of subjects that are.
Emin, 49, a member of the Royal Academy where she is professor of drawing, warned that the impact of giving inner-city children no creative outlet could be devastating.
“If anyone thought the riots in 2011 were bad, take the arts out of the curriculum and it will be worse,” she told The Independent. She said her own work with teenagers had convinced her of the positive effect of the arts.
She said: “Michael Gove has to rethink the policy. If art isn’t considered as important as other subjects it will just fall by the wayside. It can’t become a secondary subject.”
