In November and December last year, four Blackpool schools visited the Grundy Art Gallery's exhibition Kelly Richardson: Legion and took part in a wonderful project with Liverpool based artist Robyn Woolston. They explored the exhibition with Robyn and learnt all about Kelly's films; how they were made and what they were about. Robyn then helped them create atwork in response to the exhibition.

This film, by Robyn Woolston, tells the children's story of a fictional landscape which is both familiar and from far away.


'Legion (after Richardson)' is supported using public funding by Arts Council England.

The film has been made possible thanks to the vision and drawings of the pupils and staff at the following schools:

Mereside Primary School
Holy Family Primary School
St. Kentigerns Primary School
Montgomery High School

Wednesday 6th Feb Forum

We will be looking around the current exhibition by Kai-Oi Jay Yung, exploring all the interactive elements of the exhibition and looking at the contributions from schools and the public.

We will also explore how to use public art as a classroom project. Thinking through how to devise a project around Blackpool and the World's public art and a lesson plan to get the class designing their own.

We also encourage teachers to share project ideas and help others come up with new ways of being creative. If you would like to book a place please contact Kerry Vasiliou, Education Officer on kerry.vasiliou@blackpool.gov.uk or 01253 478170.



At the Teachers Art Forum session yesterday we went through how to search for and recognise a 'good' artist to work with. We met Dave Brenannd who told us about of the wonderful spaces and resources they have to offer at the City Learning Centre.

We even tried out one of Grundy' 'projects in class' ideas.

Creating a photographic class poem inspired by the Neon works of Contemporary Artist Peter Liversidge

Peter would making his art by sitting at his kitchen table and writing a proposal. A proposal is an artist statement, describing what he/she plans to do and this is sent to the commissioning body which could be a council, an arts organisation or other.

Peter makes these proposals the first part of his art, often framing them and exhibiting them. The proposals purpose is to sketch out an idea before it is realised, allowing everyone to interpret in their own way.
The ideas become the artwork, like a drawing pre-empting the physical realisation of the idea.

What to do in class:
Using a broad topic like; hope, loss, time, space.

Ask each child to write a poem about one of these subjects.

Ask everyone to read out their poems whilst projecting them onto the whiteboard, so that everyone can read along with them.

Ask the class to say what they think of each poem. What part in particular they liked the most.

For example:

Time, time, time
Make time, give time, take time out
Win time, lose time, the time of your life
Spend time, sell time, the good times and the bad


Ask the class to pick a single part of the poem like; ‘give time’
Use this phrase and create it using glow sticks. Photograph in a really darkened room. Do this for everyone and put the images together into a stop frame animation. Give each phrase time to be digested, maybe 10seconds each. You can even add sound. A poem created as a class.
Here is one we tried earlier...... called 'endless'.

Grundy's next exhibition is all about mass participation. The aim is to get as many people as possible involved in making the work for the show. Grundy is working with the very talented artist, Kai Oi Jay Yung to shape this exhibition and so far we have sent out two invitations to make work for the show.

1. Make your life's motto in thread

2. Record a sound and be part of a larger artist composed sound work (click here to find out more)

This exhibition will open at Grundy on the 19th of January and close on the 9th of March 2013. Don't miss out your opportunity to get involved! For more info contact Kerry Vasiliou, Education Officer on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk

Below are some images of Jay's past work. This was a performance in the YouYou Gallery in China from 2011. Jay is an inter-discplinary artist working in sculpture, performance, film, sound, installation, drawing, painting and lots more.

Are they real or fantasy?

Grundy's next exhibition includes large scale landscapes created using digital technologies. Canadian artist, Kelly Richardson, is a mutli-media installation artist who uses special effects on top of real film to create landscapes which are both recognisable and foreign to us.

Watch a video of Richardson's work

TWILIGHT AVENGER

Installation view: Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art

2008

photograph and HD video installation, 16:9

Photo credit: Colin Davison

These films are of part-real, part-unreal places like; rainforests, space and swamps. Filmed in exsisting locations, Richardson then inserts digital effects making you question your beliefs and activate your imagination.

This will be a visually stimulating exhibition for school children and a great activity to exercise their imaginations.

More information coming soon.
Exhibition opens on 20th Oct and closes on the 5th of Jan 2013.
Grundy Art Gallery - forthcoming exhibition

Ding a ling....

Turner-prize winning artist Martin Creed, is creating his next piece of art called , 'Work No.1197: All the bells in a country rung as quickly and as loudly as possible for three minutes'. He needs your help to make it happen.

Can you arrange a bell ringing session on Friday the 27th of July at 8.12am in the morning? Join in to celebrate the opening of the Olympics.

For more info, click this link.

Lights on!!

Grundy's next exhibition is going to be a spectacular visual treat. Brian Giffiths, a major UK artist based in London, has selected section and parts of the illuminations from their depo in South Shore to be displayed in the Grundy Art Gallery as sculptural forms in their own right. Each of the four rooms in Grundy will be light in a stunningly different way according to the objects chosen.

Illuminations featured; moon face, the table from Alice and Wonderland (imcomplete with too gigantic tea cups), a pirate, Basil Brushes T.V ariel and a large tableau of palm trees.

There is so much to see and contemplate. Not least the amazing craftsmanship involved in making the lights but the imagination behind their stories. Brian has explored this slice of Blackpool's history and contemporary culture and presented it in a new context.

Happy 100th Birthday to the Illuminations......

For more information on the exhibition visit Grundy's website.

Schools and groups can experience this fantasy land of light from Blackpool’s past and present illuminations through an Education Officer led tour. This tour will ask the class to look, examine, sketch and write about the illuminations and the stories Griffiths is telling in each of the four rooms.


The visit also includes a show and tell session with Local & Family History Librarian, Tony Sharkey. Delving into Blackpool’s archives, this will be an exciting history lesson about Blackpool and it’s most visited attraction.

A creative workshop will explore the scientific properties of light through experiments, followed by a group task to build an artwork using shadows and light.

Dates available:
12th June - 9am – 12.30pm
13th June - 9am – 12.30pm
15th June – 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
20th June - 9am – 12.30pm
21st June - 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
3rd July - 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
4th July - 9am – 12.30pm
6th July - 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
11th July - 9am – 12.30pm
12th July - 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
17th July - 10am – 2.30pm (includes a lunch break)
18th July - 9am – 12.30pm

To book or for more information please contact Kerry Hunt, Education Officer, Grundy Art Gallery on kerry.hunt@blackpool.gov.uk