{"id":26722,"date":"2025-02-21T13:46:44","date_gmt":"2025-02-21T13:46:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/?p=26722"},"modified":"2025-02-28T09:59:20","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T09:59:20","slug":"honouring-jennie-lees-vision-arts-for-everyone-everywhere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/around-ou\/honouring-jennie-lees-vision-arts-for-everyone-everywhere\/","title":{"rendered":"Honouring Jennie Lee\u2019s Vision: \u201cArts for Everyone, Everywhere\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/people\/lisa-nandy\">Culture Secretary, Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP<\/a>, gave the inaugural Jennie Lee lecture\u2013 Arts for Everyone \u2013 on Thursday 21 February which marked the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts white paper. Below, Professor Josie Fraser, Interim Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, took the moment to reflect on this remarkable women and what she means to The Open University:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;As the 60th anniversary of Jennie Lee\u2019s pioneering arts white paper is marked, it\u2019s an ideal moment to reflect on her profound legacy and its ongoing impact on education and culture in the UK. Jennie\u2019s belief in making the arts \u201cfor everyone, everywhere\u201d was revolutionary in its day and remains just as powerful today.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Jennie Lee\u2019s work transcended politics, leaving an indelible mark on both the arts and education. As Minister for the Arts in the 1960s, she not only championed the arts but also played a pivotal role in the creation of The Open University. Her unwavering dedication to Harold Wilson\u2019s vision of a \u201cuniversity of the air\u201d was instrumental in overcoming opposition and building the foundation for what would become a transformative institution. Her leadership ensured that the OU became a beacon of accessible education for people from all walks of life, mirroring her passion to open the arts to all too.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;At The Open University, we continue to honour Jennie Lee\u2019s legacy by making higher education accessible to all, regardless of background or circumstance. We warmly welcome the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/major-investment-to-boost-growth-and-cement-britains-place-as-cultural-powerhouse\">UK Government\u2019s announcement of \u00a3270 million funding for the arts,<\/a> to support hundreds of arts venues, museums, libraries and heritage buildings.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;The Open University remains committed to breaking down barriers and offering transformative educational opportunities for all, much like Jennie did for the arts. In celebrating her milestone anniversary, we see the wealth of OU arts qualifications and free courses now on offer to anyone, anywhere. We\u2019ve come a long way, and with continued investment in the arts and education for people to access throughout life, we can ensure Jennie\u2019s vision is not only preserved but actively realised today.&#8221;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Professor Josie Fraser, Interim Vice-Chancellor, The Open University<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Photo:<\/strong> Photo of Jennie Lee dated 27 April 1973 \u2013 the Jennie Lee Library Foundation stone event. Copyright: The Open University<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Culture Secretary, Rt Hon Lisa Nandy MP, gave the inaugural Jennie Lee lecture\u2013 Arts for Everyone \u2013 on Thursday 21 February which marked the 60th anniversary of the first ever arts white paper. Below, Professor Josie Fraser, Interim Vice-Chancellor of The Open University, took the moment to reflect on this remarkable women and what she [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":26728,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,22],"tags":[165,1204,1640,1643],"class_list":["post-26722","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-around-ou","category-university-news","tag-arts","tag-jennie-lee","tag-ou-home","tag-ou-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26722"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26722\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26764,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26722\/revisions\/26764"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}