Clay Creatures

Each Monday over the past three weeks, 20-21 have been delighted hosts of Henderson Avenue Primary School's  year two classes!

The pupils came along to make clay sculptures, but before getting our hands mucky, we studied tabletop sculptures and their properties, as well as discussing how they might have been made.

Children got the rare chance to handle the artwork, touching what the sculptures felt like and discussing how we think the artist made them.

The classes are studying endangered animals at school, and were lucky enough to visit our All Things Bright and Beautiful exhibition, which features some endangered creatures.

After visiting the artworks and talking about them, the pupils were asked to draw a chosen endangered animal, keeping in mind that they'd be expected to make the drawing into a 3D model. 

Once the sketches were complete, we all played with our clay, softening it and understanding it's properties. We were using lots of different tools, to create interesting marks and shapes.  

All of the models were very creative and interesting to look at. They have spent quite some time in the gallery spaces drying out. We are becoming really rather attached to some of them!

Some of the classes were so good at sculpting, that we had some time to go and visit the main exhibitions in the church spaces.

"Winter Wonderland" in the Chancel Gallery. Some schools and young people have contributed trees and decorations to our very festive exhibition.

"Open 2012" in the Nave Gallery, a beautiful setting for an exhibition of local artists' work

Children walked around all our exhibitions and were asked to choose their favourite piece of work and explain why they liked it, and what they thought it was about.


 One young man chose Irene McGrath's "Allium" and explained: "The metal ball is for Dr Fake, who has died and this is his life source, and it's in the church because it's being protected"
Another young girl liked this piece, also, telling us: "This has been an explosion in space and the big ball is holding onto the exploded bits, which are the little balls."

A pupil chose Jon Cocks' "Facebox", as their favourite artwork: "This piece has nails in and you weave your gold thread around the nails in a way around the faces and when you find the funniest one, you stop there and fire comes out"

Children were asked to look aorund at the architecture of the building and think about the fact that it used to be a church. Here are some comments on the building, and it's previous uses (they cheered our day up, here at 20-21!):
"The altar is where they put the babies what have already been christened, to let them dry off"
"The rose window was where angels used to sit, one on each side, to look after all the children."
"I can't find god"
"My favourite thing, is that there!" (pointing at a fire detector)


All in all, each of the workshops with Henderson Avenue Primary School, were very productive, creative and exciting. The children are currently working on their posts for this blog... keep an eye out for us uploading them in the next few weeks! Thank you to all the teachers and pupils who gave us such a treat by visiting us here at 20-21!



Clay Creatures and the chance to win a prize!

It's been a while since our last post, because we've been busy getting ready for some exciting workshops with Henderson Avenue Primary School. Their year two pupils are studying endangered animals and really want to make 3D explorations of chosen endangered creatures.

The children will explore all the animals that feature in our popular exhibition All Things Bright and Beautiful, and make an animal out of clay using unusual household objects and traditional sculpting methods.

Our Education Officer has been making some creatures with the help of visitors to the activity table in the gallery. Can you tell what this one is? Write your answer as a comment, if you're correct, you're in with the chance of winning a prize!



Photos of the school workshop creations will follow in the coming weeks.

To book this or a similar workshop, please contact Hayley McPhun on 01724 297074 or hayley.mcphun@northlincs.gov.uk

BIG DRAW 2012

It's October! We all know that means it's BIG DRAW month! Big Draw is aimed at getting the nation drawing and realising the potential of expression through creativity. It's a fabulous campaign that 20-21 avidly supports each year and this year is set to be an exciting and interesting event.

On Saturday 6th October, our gallery spaces will be filled with FREE activities and events for all the family, including the 3D caged beauty, face painting, children's life drawing tutored by Paul Evans (curator of our current exhibition All Things Bright and Beautiful) and the intriguing Mutant Zoo activity!

If your school is taking part in Big Draw 2012, let us know and we will do our best to add any images you provide with details of consent!

ENJOY THE BIG DRAW!

Bookerflies!

Last week we had 33 school children visit us from Crosby Primary School. They were the first ever children to complete the Bug Books and Bookerflies workshop that was created to compliment the All Things Bright and Beautiful exhibition, on display in 20-21's Linear and Link Galleries. The exhibition has been curated by Paul Evans and includes work from many artists in response to the theme of creatures.

The Bug Books and Bookerflies workshop took the children on a tour of All Things Bright and Beautiful, and asked them to consider how the various animals and creatures might feel about the habitats they were in. Children completed worksheets and made lists of words that may have inspired the artworks.

Lots of excitable children livened up the gallery spaces with questions about the unsual artworks and fantastic ideas of what they were about.
In the education room, children worked in groups to create poems in response to the exhibition, much like was asked of Chris Jones in All Things Bright and Beautiful. Some of the poetry used very creative rhyming, while others were funny and unusual. Below are some examples of the children's creative writing:

Using basic craft materials, children were asked to make the covers to their Bookerflies, being reminded of symmetry in shape, colour and design. Once completed, the Bookerlfies and poems were bound using a careful stitch that meant children could use the books as mobiles in the classroom.

I think you'll agree, the Bookerflies are themselves, Bright and Beautiful, using some very clever creative writing for the poems.

Lots of fun was had by the children, teachers and Education Officer at 20-21, and we hope the Bookerflies look splendid in their new classroom habitats!

Learning Outcomes

Children will:

Be introduced to 20-21 Visual Arts Centre

• By being taken on a tour of the gallery and it’s exhibitions
• By being introduced to various members of staff and their jobs

Be able to identify various art forms and why they might be used

• By critically analysing the art form and decisions made by an artist

Write a poem

• Using prompt questions and responses, as part of a group creative writing activity

Make a book

• By using bookbinding tools to create a simple pamphlet bound book, in the shape of a creature featuring in the exhibition.

Subjects covered:

Literacy

Numeracy

Symmetry

Art and design

Nature’s creatures

Artists responses

Artists studied:

Chloe Brown

Paul Evans & Humanstudio

Hondartza Fraga

Karl Hurst

Chris Jones

Tony Kemplen

Art forms used:

Basic craft skills

Book binding

Creative writing

Collage

For more information on this workshop, or to make a booking, please contact 20-21's Education Officer on: hayley.mcphun@northlincs.gov.uk or 01724 297074 or visit our website  for up-to-date information.