Art Object about Blackpool

The next forum meeting will take place on Tuesday the 9th of March and will launch Blackpool, Inside Out, a new artwork created by Kate Eggleston-Wirtz as the 2009 artist in residence for the Blackpool Art Service’s Regeneration Arts Programme.

The object is now available on loan for FREE from the Grundy Art Gallery, as an educational resource exploring Blackpool’s heritage and discussing Blackpool’s future. The object has many layers, opening up to reveal several themes including; Blackpool Tower, Donkey rides, the Hotel Business, Trams, Tourism, Circus and plenty more. It is adorned with historical objects to handle and look at, getting everyone talking about Blackpool - past, present and future. Blackpool, Inside Out also comes with an Educational Pack with lots of infomation on the history of Blackpool and also suggestions for activities.

The launch will take place at the Grundy Art Gallery, Queen Street, Blackpool, FY1 1PX on Tuesday the 9th of March from 4pm. At 4.30pm, Kate will be giving a talk about the object and how to use it as an educational tool in class or with a group. If you would like to attend please RSVP to Kerry Hunt on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

Looking at familiar artists in a different way

Artists like Pablo Picasso, Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt are often the most popular artists to be used in classroom art lessons. This means that children grow up with the knowledge of only a handful of artists and even with them have only ever looked at a handful of images and not that artists full body of work.

Below are some project ideas inspired by these artists but from looking at their sketches, drawings, studies, sculputres etc. The artwork they are not most famed for.

Pablo Picasso

Picasso uses animals regularly in his pottery, drawings, sculputres and paintings for example 'Guernica'. In this controversial painting about war, he uses a bull to symbolise a soldier and a horse to represent the civilian who suffers in conflict.

Organise a trip to Blackpool Zoo and take a sketch pad along. Sketch and take photos of the animals there. Take them back into class and create sculputres using plaster of paris, papier mache or clay.

Vincent Van Gogh and Gustav Klimt

Both Van Gogh and Klimt have created some beautiful drawings and paintings of trees.

Organise a trip to Stanley Park, Blackpool and take with you several rolls of lining paper, a bamboo stick for everyone, charcoal sticks and masking tape. Tape the charcoal to the end of the bamboo stick and roll the length of the lining paper out along the ground. Make sure you are in a good spot for seeing trees. Line everyone up along the paper and start drawing the trees and surrounding. Everyone will be standing up and have a long stick to draw with so there will be some interesting line making happening.

When you get back to school, you can display the long drawing in the classroom, hall or length of the corridor.

Next forum meeting

Happy New Year!

Our next forum meeting will be held at the Grundy Art Gallery on Thursday the 14th of Jan 2010 from 4pm - 5pm.

Forum agenda:

• Mini tour of the Collaborate and Make exhibition and talking about how it works and the importance of these projects.
• Session on famous artist's work and why they have become such a popular teachers tool in art classes. We will be looking at these artist's lesser known artworks and where they get their influences from to maybe spark ideas about future classroom projects.
• Session for teachers to bring issues, ideas, thoughts and questions to the group.

(I have some sketchbook examples to show you as well.) Please let me know if you can attend via email kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk or telephone on 01253 478170.

Collaborate and Make

The project is up and running. The exhibition opens on Monday the 11th of Jan and closes on Saturday the 30th of Jan 2010.

Image courtesy of artist Emily Speed

Grundy Art Gallery presents Collaborate and Make: Cardboard City, the culmination of a week long project in which artist, Emily Speed, has been commissioned to engage Blackpool Schools in contemporary arts practice.

The exhibition includes a transitory cityscape installation made entirely from everyday packaging materials, the ephemeral qualities of which will juxtapose against the solid and immovable Edwardian architecture of the gallery. Bringing these two building approaches into one space presents the temporary and fragile against the monumental and strong.

It is apt that Speed creates this transient city at a time when Blackpool is transforming through construction and regeneration, as these assembled habitats for an unknown population demonstrate the fragility of a community and its buildings.

Special thanks to the schools who worked alongside Speed in the gallery, to create and construct this imaginary cardboard city.

Here are some images of the exhibition:

The School Photograph Idea

I remember being at Primary School and having my school photograph taken every year, wearing my cleanest school uniform, sat on a gym horse with a well rehersed grin.

How about getting your class to take their school photo as an opportunity to create their very own self portrait art work? Below are two self portraits of the artist Gillian Wearing. She is posing in the photo as her father amd her grandmother, recreating photographs taken long before she was born. Only her eyes are recognisable as her own.

Idea 1: Ask your class to find an old photograph from newspapers and old records at the local family history room at Central Library. Recreate that photograph using hair, makeup and costume or they could paint the portrait onto card, cutting out holes for eyes and wearing it as a mask. The idea is to pose as that person for your school photo, act like that person, be history and create an unusual artwork. Literacy tasks like writing a story about that person could support the photo.

Idea 2: The image above of the man holding the sign is from a series of work produced by Gillian Wearing called 'Signs that Say What You Want Them To Say and Not Signs that Say What Someone Else Wants You To Say'. Ask your class to come up with a poem or sentence which answers this question: If you could tell the world one thing, what would it be? They could hold up their handwritten signs in their school photo (individual/group).

Each of these activities will get them to think again about a yearly occurance, something ordinary and familiar takes on a new meaning for them. The parents can then choose which one they get printed and framed, normal or artwork.

Next forum meeting

Image: Martin Creed

I hope you all had a relaxing October half term. The next teachers art forum meeting will be on Tuesday the 24th of November 2009 from 4pm - 5pm at the Grundy Art Gallery.


On the agenda this time will be:

1. Young Seasiders - update
2. Case studies of interesting art programmes run with schools in Blackpool and beyond.
3. Your projects/issues/ideas etc.
4. Any other items for discussion (instigated by teachers)

If you are able to attend, please let me know via email kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

Next forum meeting

I hope you are all looking forward to another good year of art in school!

Our next forum meeting is on Tuesday the 15th of September at the Grundy Art Gallery from 4pm to 5pm.

We will be discussing:

1. Discussion about future school participatory events at the Grundy

2. Online resources for teachers

3. Your projects in class and feeding in ideas

4. Any other issues

I hope to see you all there. If you are attending please let me know via email kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk