This paper examines projects that create stable synergies among artists, cultural institutions and schools in the form of creative environments that enable permanent contact with artistic processes, provide a different way to interact with the world and construct thought, and thereby offer more significant learning opportunities to children. The study focuses on a UK action research organisation known as 5x5x5=creativity, which analyses the impact of the arts in education through the creation of collaborative projects involving schools, artists, cultural institutions, community organisations, local authorities and families. The organisation gives everyone who takes part a fresh look at creativity, empowering them with a critical and creative understanding of their own scope of action, while also encouraging them to reflect upon the processes involved in teaching and learning.