Next forum meeting.....

2011 has come around quick! Our next forum meeting will be on the 25th of January from 4pm-5pm at the Grundy Art Gallery.

We will be discussing art project ideas, the sketchbook project and our forthcoming exhibition Orbitecture. This is also an opportunity for you to bring along your ideas, things that have worked well in class and a chance to talk through issues surrounding the art curriculum.

Image above: Francis Thorburn, ‘Mobile Garden Vehicle no. 4’, 2009
An artwork by Francis Thorburn will be included in our forthcoming exhibition Orbitecture.

Please let me know if you wish to attend.
Email: kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk
Telephone: 01253 478170

take part art is a success!

We have had over a 1000 children and young people take part in workshops about friendship. They studied animals behaviour in the wild, learning how they interact as a group and their ways and reasons for making friends. Once they had decided which animal they were most like as a friend they made their image to go on the box.

Baboons spend lots of time with their friends, playing and looking after each other.













Dolphins make friends for a long time.

Giraffes are happy on their own.

Squirrels have a big social network.

White Rhinos like to have travelling buddy when they leave home.

Vampire Bats help their friends in need.

Learning Outside the Classroom case studies

“Because if you just read stuff out of a book, it’s not really enjoyable and you don’t really remember it. But if you go there then you’ll enjoy yourself, you’ll have great fun and it’ll stick in your mind” (Secondary School student).

.....enhanced environmental and geographical literacy, improved critical skills and thinking, better decision making and problem solving abilities and affective knowledge. The research location supporting cognitive benefits tended to be more predominantly in school grounds, museums, gardens and urban spaces. By far the most substantial longitudinal research that has been conducted in the cognitive domain in out-of-classroom learning has been the evaluation of the EIC (Environment as an Integrating Context) education model developed and evaluated by SEER (State Education & Environment Roundtable).... Research by Ernst and Monroe (2007) affirms the SEER findings and contributes to evidence around the relationship between environment based education and acquisition of critical thinking skills.

The Thinking through Art project (ISGM 2007) is a study of 135 third, fourth and fifth graders from five elementary schools who engaged in museum multi-visits. The students were tested for critical thinking skills using a rubric that was refined over a three-year period against a control group. The report states: “The data from the performance assessment part of the study consistently showed that students in the ISGM multiple visit programme out-performed a group of comparison students who did not participate in any type of art museum/school programme. Students in the ISGM programme not only used more critical skills, they used a variety of critical thinking categories as measured by the rubric (2007: 38).”

every experience matters
An evidence based research report on the role of learning outside the classroom for children’s whole development from birth to eighteen years. Dr Karen Malone

This  report was commissioned by Farming and Countryside Education (FACE) in support of the UK Department of Children, School and Families Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto.

wibbly wobbly sculptures

The idea of using jelly to make sculptures was put forward at a previous forum meeting and Jo Geary from Devonshire School decided to give it a go.

What wonderful wibbly wobbly sculptures. They look good enough to eat!

schools to exhibit artwork at Grundy...

 It is our pleasure to invite Blackpool schools to enter take part art the new and exciting schools exhibition at the Grundy Art Gallery. This exhibition will take similar a format to that of the Young Seasiders.


1. The exhibition will open to the public on Thursday the 25th of November 2010 and run until the 8th of January 2011.
2. Delivery of artwork will be between 10am and 5pm on Thursday the 18th and Friday the 19th of November 2010.
3. Collection of the artwork will be between 10am and 5pm on Monday the 10th and Tuesday the 11th of January 2011. Arrangements must be made for collection on this day as the gallery can not store any artworks.


Individual Artworks: Open to all primary, secondary and special needs schools. Each school is asked to submit artwork pieces by individual pupils. Each school is given a specified wall space to display their pictures – space is allocated pro-rata to the number of pupils in the school. Once we know the number of schools entering, we will inform you of the space allocated.


Group work: The exhibition will offer a very special opportunity to schools and families to take part in activities in the gallery during the run of the exhibition. The themes for the artwork will be friendship and identity. There will be more information on this soon.


Things to note:
• All artworks will be hung by gallery staff.
• Teachers are asked to mount their artwork onto 1, 2 or 3 large pieces of mounting paper.
• If you are having a problem with either space or transportation, work can be mounted by teachers at the gallery.
• Artwork pieces for the walls must not be heavy.
• All works on canvas must be mirror plated.
• It is recognised that this system is not suitable for some secondary school work due to its scale and weight. However, where possible all works on paper must be mounted as mentioned above.
• Certificates will be provided as pdf for all who have participated, as everyone is a prize-winner to us.


If you would like to enter your schools artwork into the exhibition and or would like to book a workshop to contribute to the group work, please ring or email before the 22nd of October 2010. Your contact is Kerry Hunt, Education Officer on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

Sketchbook Project is up and running

Kerry Hunt, Education Officer, is now available to come into school and run a sketchbook workshop. Whether you are planning to use the sketchbook as a class activity or do it in after school/morning clubs, we would like to help you get started. 

By the end of the school year in 2011, we hope to be able to exhibit these sketchbooks around schools or in a Blackpool town centre location, for all to read. 

If you would like to know more or book in a workshop please contact Kerry on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk to arrange a time.

Street Poem Collage

 

Take your class on a walk, it could be:

1. Around the school
2. Around their town
3. Along one street
4. Journey from school to Blackpool Tower
5. Journey from school to the Grundy Art Gallery

Get them to record signs, traffic signs, posters, adverts, instructional signs etc using cameras by sketching.

Use these images to create one large collage back in class. Use the words found in the images to create a group poem about traffic/words/walking/journeys.

Get them to look at the language used in signs, the colours and how many things there are to read on a small journey. Perhaps even have a debate about visual pollution and whether it is right to overload the streets with so many signs. 

Above are some images from the internet, showing you different and interesting ways in which road signs and traffic signals have been used.

Next forum meeting

The next forum meeting is on Tuesday the 5th of October 2010 at the Grundy Art Gallery from 4pm-5pm.

We will be looking at the Grundy's current exhibitions; My Generation - The Glory Years of British Rock and Fan Club.

We will also be discussing how to get started on the sketchbook project and other inspiring ideas to incorporate into the curriculum. We will also be talking about the Wordpool Programme and how to get involved.

If you would like to come along, please email Kerry Hunt, Education Officer on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk or contact on 01253 478170.

A big boat and a talking cardboard box at the Grundy.....

Above: Brian Griffiths ‘Beneath the Stride of Giants’ 2004, wood

Extra Ordinary
26.06.10 - 11.09.10

Blackpool has an important history of sideshow and fairground entertainment, which showcased the exotic, the amazing and the bizarre. With a resurgence in the popularity of such entertainment in recent years Extra Ordinary purposefully sets out to embrace this culture, looking at magic, horror, clairvoyance and spectacle, but removes its focus from the exotic to include artworks that find the extraordinary within the mundane.

The exhibition brings together artworks by six contemporary artists, repositioning everyday objects, or familiar routines and experiences to become absurd or magical. It includes Brian Griffths' 'Beneath the Stride of Giants', a vast maritime vessel, part real part mythical, constructed of salvaged furniture and discarded material and a talking cardboard box called ‘Born as a Box’ by Shimabuku.

Above: ‘Adam’ being transported from London to Blackpool, 1939. Image courtesy the Local and Family History Centre, Blackpool Central Library.

Jacob Epstein and Blackpool

26.06.10 - 11.09.10

Jacob Epstein’s carving ‘Adam’ was first shown in Blackpool during the 1939 summer holiday season. During this time Jacob Epstein was a household name, synonymous with the negative opinions aimed at modern art.

The showing of 'Adam' was to be the start of a fascinating relationship between Epstein’s work and Blackpool that would stretch to 1961. The showing of more of Epstein's major carvings followed: 'Jacob and the Angel' in 1942, and by 1958 'Genesis', ‘Consummatum Est’, 'Adam' and 'Jacob and the Angel' were displayed together in Louis Tussauds on the Promenade.

Blackpool exhibited Epstein’s work when the art establishment would not, always proclaiming it to be great art. It brought its marketing and showmanship expertise to modern art and drew massive audiences by doing so. Epstein was top of the bill.

Jacob Epstein and Blackpool looks back at these showings through a selection of the press coverage that was generated at the time to revaluate the events and reveal that they were not the freak shows at the fairground they have been branded by art critics and commentators in recent times, but a story of the clash between Modernist high art and popular culture.

Exhibition tour and Workshop (adaptable for all key stages)

Education Officer led tour of exhibitions:

We will explore Jacob Epstein and Blackpool by looking at the articles as evidence and analysing the language and opinions conveyed. We will also watch a short film about the artwork.

We will explore Extra Ordinary by creating a mythical story inspired by the huge boat structure and discussing the films and sculptures by the other five artists.

Creative Workshop:

Using cardboard, lollipop sticks and tape we will create our own mythical boats full of character and mystery.

Please contact the Education Officer, Kerry Hunt on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk for more information or to book for a free visit.

Workshop inspired by Max Anderson

Hello, I am a 14year old pupil from Palatine School on work experience at the Grundy Art Gallery this week and I have been researching a cool project for you to try in class.

Any child who has an open mind and a varied imagination will be able to do this task. They should think of something e.g- an object or activity etc, that they take an interest in, and design a building to do with that thing.

They should design both the interior and exterior, closely related to that thing. This is a drawing and colouring exercise which will be fun.

They should think of a purpose for the building, linking it to the thing that they chose as their inspiration. Also they should think of a name for it, where it will be placed and why? How would they keep it up and running and what type of people do they think would visit their building?

Thanks for reading.

Sam

The Sketchbook Project

The Blackpool School’s Sketchbook Project aims to get children recording and documenting;
1. Their life
2. Their surroundings
3. Things which have inspired and influenced them
4. Ideas for art projects

The sketchbook project is ideal for work in class to support projects, with after school clubs and to take home and work on as a family.

Each child has their own sketchbook to personalise. There is no list of content to include and no mark at the end of the project, it is an ongoing project for them to be responsible for.

Sketchbooks should be full of imagination, experimentation presented in a relaxed and individual style.

The school to provide each pupil taking part with a mini sketchbook (no bigger than A5) and the Grundy Art Gallery’s Education Officer will come into school and do a workshop on how to get started.


The aim is that every child gets their sketchbook celebrated in an exhibition organised by the Grundy Art Gallery, ideas for where and when to be discussed at a later date.


If you are interested in getting your class involved, we are looking to start this project in Oct 2010 with workshops in school. Please contact Kerry Hunt on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk to register your involvement and arrange dates and times for the workshops.

Classroom resource

The Whitworth Art Gallery, Manchester has put together a very nice resource which could assist creative writing and numeracy skills in a imaginative way. It is very pretty to look at too!

Classroom resource

Tate Artist Timeline is a brilliant class room resource.

The teachers at our last forum meeting had some great ideas of how to use it on the wall. Pin it up in the class room and add images underneath of particular artists they have researched, or their response to a work. It is also a really good prompt for teachers to use when deciding which artists to look at.

Next forum meeting

The next forum meeting will be on Tuesday the 25th  of May 2010 from 4pm-5pm at the Grundy Art Gallery.

We will discuss various things about the art curriculum and the opportunity to start a cross-school sketchbook project to be part of the Wordpool programme. Wordpool is Blackpool's annual literary festival and this will be it's fourth year.

If you can attend please let me know via email on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

Shipwreck Project idea

Wreck of Sirene and Sea Wall 1892, photo from Grundy's collection

Below is some information on four shipwrecks in Blackpool, taken from this website: http://rmhh.co.uk/blackpool.html

1755

The Fylde Coast had its share of Shipwrecks in the old days, and being sparsely populated it was a common thing for the inhabitants to help themselves before the Coast Guards or Excise Officers could get to the wreck.

A ship named "The Travers" was wrecked on the coast, it had a cargo of Lace, and there was "Travers Lace" in homes all over the Fylde for years after.

1779

Owing to there being a bad summer and poor crops, food was scarce. During the autumn, a ship was wrecked on the Coast which, among other articles, was carrying a cargo of peas. This was raided and helped out the food supply and the wreck became known as "The Pea Soup Wreck".

1839

A ship called "The Crusader" was wrecked at South Shore, and a few Marton men were sent to Prison having been caught taking silk from the wreck.

1892

Wreck of "The Sirene" against the North Pier, the crew managed to climb onto the Pier to safety. (Pictured above).

Ideas for School Project

1. Ask the class to illustrate a shipwreck story with line drawings and then create a print, using a piece of shiny silver card and the shell of a biro. Scratch deep marks onto the card with the biro and then wash over the card with ink or watered down acrylic paint. Place a piece of white card over the silver card and press down (use a printing roller if possible). Peel off for the finished print.

This idea was inspired by Contemporary Artists - Daniel Arsham (image below)

2. Film or record the children re-enacting the shipwreck as if they were survivors or locals. Fill in the missing gaps in the stories, like where the ships were going, why it crashed, what happened to the survivors and how tasty the pea soup was. 

Magic Show - Exhibition

                    Colin Guillemet, ‘Untitled (anything but a rabbit)’, 2006, © the artist 2009

Magic Show

13.02.10 – 10.04.10

A Hayward Touring Exhibition from Southbank Centre

Magic Show is an art exhibition about illusion. It includes 24 international artists and features work by Christian Jankowski, Bruce Nauman, Jake and Dinos Chapman and Sinta Werner. This exhibition explores magic, illusion, manipulation, power over the mind and our belief systems using many different methods which often relate to science and maths.

Guided tour - Education Officer led tour of the exhibition. We will explore the artwork using the Magic Show activity guides. The group will be encouraged to work in pairs and have group discussions. The activity guides have an emphasis on investigating how and why these illusions work, whilst asking them to observe, describe, record, review and sketch.

Workshop - Key Stage 2, 3, 4, 5

This practical workshop is a creative response to Sinta Werner’s installation, using the evidence found whilst exploring the exhibition. In pairs they will design a proposal for an ‘illusion of space’ for the gallery; generating ideas, combining different components, talking about their ideas, discussing what to do next and communicating their creative problem solving through drawing.

Workshop  - Key Stage 1

The young people will be asked to create an alter ego character and then design a theatrical poster to advertise their character’s spectacular, magical event.

If you would like to book a tour and workshop, please contact Kerry Hunt, Education Officer on 01253 478170 or kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

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: