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

Answer to 'Mosaic Art' post

Thank you for your question below. You can probably find mosiac artists in the directory of 'axis' website this is the link: http://www.axisweb.org/

I have a simpler idea which is just as effective and probably more practical too.

Paint the wall white, then add stripes in a shape (some ideas are; shape of Blackpool town centre, Britain, a house, a cow etc) like this image. Then add natural wood shelves, which you can use to display art work, objects to illustrate a subject, musical instruments they can play with.

Mosaic Artist

Our Key Stage 1 Hall is going to be having a revamp this summer and as a Key stage we would like to create a large piece of artwork to put up in the hall.
Our initial idea is to create a big mosaic wall hanging. I have been looking on the internet to find independent mosaic artists but can't seem to find any in the area.

I would be grateful if anyone knows of anyone or if you have any other good ideas.

Thank you.
Hope to hear from you soon.

Thames Primary

Two art activities to try in class

This is a piece by Polly Apfelbaum, she has created a colourful floor sculptor.

You can use her work as inspiration for your own floor collage. Ask the children to plan it out first on paper, then maybe either in the class room or in the school hall lay out the collage on the floor using tin foil, wall paper and materials including beads, plastic bags crayons etc . The pupils will learn about colour and they can also work in teams to complete the task. Photos will be needed to be taken as it will be temporary.
Here is an oil painting by Yuko Nasu.

You need a canvas or cardboard and paint (preferably acrylic). Squeeze a splodge of colour in different places on the canvas, do this with all three colours. Drag the paint brush through them (a bit like joining the dots) but the trick is to be drawing a face at the same time. The brush will create swirls and patterns of the colours mixed together. The children will enjoy the lack of control and having to be flexible with the paint. It is a really good way of learning how to use paint and be confident with it.

Tony Cragg - Sculptor

Tony Cragg's new sculptures could be the start of a really interesting school project looking at form and recycling.

Ask your class to collect various objects in one colour (red, blue, yellow etc) and then spend a day outside in the playground creating a sculptural form. Have fun with the shapes. As it is plastic it will last in all weathers so it could become a permanent feature in your playground.

In support of this project you could visit Blackpool's Great Promenade Show which is an open-air art gallery of public art along the south promenade. Click on the link below for more information.

http://www.greatpromenadeshow.co.uk/

Independant Consultant for Schools contact

Westcliff Primary School have recently had an inset day with an Independant Consultant and would like to recommend an art inset day in your school with Catherine Glynn.

Catherine was a qualified teacher for six years when she moved into a management position at the school and then onto an advanced teaching position in Art and Design.

If you would like to know more about Catherine's services please contact her via email: glynness@hotmail.co.uk

Martin Parr - Photography project

Martin Parr is a British photographer who likes to document society, consumerism, family, relationships and food. His work often explores 'Britishness'.

You could look at his work as the starting point for a photography or documentary project on their life at home, living in their town or even where they go on holiday.

Ask them to cast a critical eye over the things they eat, buy, do for fun and what they do on holiday. Encourage them to take photographs and draw the ordinary scenes around them, paying particular attention to the typical and ordinary objects and things, like Matirn Parr has done in the photograph above. They can collect 'stuff' from their world and eventually all this can be collated into a journal of their life and experiences.

A nice idea is to swap these journals with another school from a different country or from another part of the UK, to learn about their lives and experiences.

Primary School Teachers Art Forum - 2nd session

Thank you to all those who attended the first forum at the Grundy. It was great to meet you all and get an idea of some of the problems we can help solve through discussion and sharing.

The next forum meeting will be at the Grundy Art Gallery on Tuesday the 2nd of June from 4-5pm. If you would like to come along please email Kerry Hunt on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk or call on 01253 478170.

Contemporary artists using colour, texture and shape

Mindy Shapero - Sculpture http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/328780090_6d6a7c0ae3.jpg?v=0
Franz West - Sculpture
http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/07/30/arts/30west.l.jpg
Jim Lambie - Installation
http://www.nationalgalleries.org/media_collection/6/GMA%204420.jpg

Comparing and Contrasting Exercise

Incorporating contemporary art into the curriculum can be a very stimulating exercise without having to divert away from topics or artists which you are already exploring.

If your topic was portraiture and you were looking at the works of Picasso, you could compare and contrast his paintings to the works of a contemporary artist which will encourage debate and discussion. An example of a contemporary artist whose work you could use for this exercise is Julian Opie. Pick a selection of portraits by Picasso and Opie, present them in a slideshow and give the class the opportunity to look, compare and discuss their opinions.

If your topic was landscape and you are looking at the work of Van Gogh. An example of a contemporary artist whose work would compare well against Van Gogh's is Olafur Eliasson and 'The Weather Project'.
You can find contemporary artists by searching the collections and exhibitions on galleries websites, for example; Grundy Art Gallery, Tate, IKON Gallery, Baltic Gallery, Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art and Spike Island to name just a few.

Primary School Teacher's Art Forum - 1st session

Meeting:Tues 28th April 4 - 5pm
Venue:Grundy Art Gallery

The Grundy Art Gallery's Education Officer will take you on a brief tour of the exhibition, Ruth Claxton: Lands End, demonstrating the content of a class visit and workshop at the gallery.

Images of Ruth Claxton exhibition at IKON gallery,

Birmingham. Courtesy of photographer Stuart Whipp

The remaining 45 minutes of the session will be an open forum to discuss the art curriculum together, ask for advice on how to achieve certain techniques, where to find resources and bring along examples of artwork and art projects which have been successful to enable other teachers to benefit.
We will also give out the password for this blog to allow teachers to post images and information, creating a useful resource all year round.
If you are a Primary School Teacher from Fylde, Wyre or Blackpool and would like to join the forum please contact Kerry Hunt at the Grundy Art Gallery on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk. (There is no limit to the amount of teachers or teaching assistants joining the forum.)