The Hamilton Princess & Beach Club has partnered with the Bermuda National Gallery to provide free transportation for school tours of the gallery at City Hall.

Jennifer Phillips, the BNG executive director, said that the assistance supported the gallery’s goal of making art more accessible to the island’s schoolchildren.

She noted: “We provide free school tours for all of our exhibitions but sometimes transportation is a barrier.”

Tim Morrison, the Hamilton Princess general manager, said: “We are delighted to once again partner with the Bermuda National Gallery — now in our fourth year — to provide transportation for their school art tours.

“This initiative offers students the opportunity to explore beyond the classroom by visiting the Bermuda National Gallery and experiencing its exhibitions from January through April.”

Makaela Kawaley-Lathan, the BNG’s officer of community engagement, programming and learning, said that over the past six weeks, 100 students had visited the gallery through school tours.

She added that 130 pupils were booked to visit the gallery this month and bookings continued to be made.

“It has been really exciting and has provided a lot of opportunities even looking beyond visual arts,” she said.

Ms Kawaley-Lathan explained: “We also have people coming in to learn about literature and to look at Dr Seuss books.

“It has provided opportunities for teachers to make minor tweaks to their curriculum.

“So it has been an exciting past few weeks.”

Ms Phillips said the BNG had always championed the importance of art in education through its “robust” educational programme.

“Research has shown that art exposure is linked with increased academic success and decreased antisocial behaviour,” she added.

“So the more that we can get students coming in the door and being exposed to art and art experiences, the better.

“We are really grateful for any initiatives that increase access to the arts.”

She hailed the efforts of the Christian Humann Foundation, which over the past three years sponsored free admission to the gallery.

“That ensures that there is no barrier to access all of our offerings to the public,” Ms Kawaley-Lathan added.

A free activity booklet is provided for primary and middle school children for each exhibition at the gallery.

Ms Kawaley-Lathan said that the Ministry of Education recently benefited from a professional development exercise that catered for public school art teachers.

She said 30 schools took part this month and noted that two thirds of the teachers surveyed mentioned transportation as a barrier that prevented them from embarking on school tours.

The BNG has also facilitated a free tour for 20 staff from the Ministry of Youth, Social Development and Seniors, which provided an opportunity for the two parties to discuss how the gallery can support camps and a link for after-school programmes.