As a result of earlier, discouraging experiences, socially disadvantaged children and adolescents often have a rather low motivation to learn and a fragile sense of their own self-efficacy. Their main experiences are those of exclusion, failure, and resignation, certainly by the time they start school. It is, therefore, all the more important to offer these children regular and reliable programs and activities that help them in their personal development so that they see themselves as loveable, self-efficacious, and as having the same opportunities as others.

In January 2013, the children began to get to know different art forms hands-on (painting, drawing, ceramics, sculpture, performing arts, photography, and improvisation theatre). Engaging with themselves and their environment, they were able to explore new possibilities for recreational activity, awareness, and communication. In addition, the children enthusiastically visited a number of museum exhibitions and wrote down their impressions. The broad-based studio program for Berlin and Brandenburg offers children and young people the opportunity to immerse themselves in the world of art, not through the usual route of educational services provided by museums, but through the workshop atmosphere in the artists’ studios. The program fits perfectly with the Schering Stiftung’s cultural education focus which is designed to help disadvantaged children and young people gain the self-confidence and courage to shape their own future.