We are pleased to have started working in schools across Sheffield. This has provided young people with the chance to participate in creative activities that are outside those normally taught in the classroom. This includes after school clubs which are informal and relaxed. This inspires youngsters, even those who think they don't enjoy art, and they learn how relaxing and beneficial creative activities can be.
Wise words was an intergenerational project based in two schools in Nether Edge. The sessions were led by a professional writer who used activities and exercises to develop the writing of the children. The writing focused around living in and around Sheffield and learning about how things have changed over time. A great part of session which really inspired the children’s stories was when they were interviewing local older people about their childhood. The children were amazed and shocked by how different things were! The writing task that really brought excitement to the children was writing about games that could be played in the future: teleports, flying carpets and invisibility were just a few of the imaginative ideas written about. The children are being rewarded by their brilliant efforts through the printing of their writing in a newspaper, an example of which is this evaluation acrostic they came up with:
Writing is special in every way.
In the classes we write in our own way.
Sitting at our desks, we asked questions about childhood in the past.
Everyone has a different kind of style, which makes us unique.
When we write our minds explode with ideas.
Our experience has been one in a million.
Reading makes your writing even better.
Dreaming helps your imagination go wild.
Sentences dance around on your paper.
The work of both sessions was brought together in a showcase event. The pupils and older people came together to write and share their experiences. Some of the pupils involved in the wise words sessions read at the event, pieces of their own writing. The final event was a lovely experience, recognising the brilliant celebration of the words produced in both sessions.
In this workshop we worked with a group of students from Sheffield Hallam who will themselves be delivering workshops to younger students at schools. A variety of different puppets were looked at, and there was a discussion on how to use them in the context of a story. The attendees each made 3 different puppets (including some super cute finger puppets) and they all found the session to be highly valuable, believing that what they learnt would be of great help when they had to deliver their own workshops to children.
We recently ran a number of sessions at Monteney Primary School, giving over 50 students the chance to make some fabricated flowers. Using wire, Fantasy Film and a splash of acrylic paint, the children created an array of beautiful pieces, and despite their somewhat intricate nature, the children were fascinated by the materials, with some describing the process as “like magic”!
Over half term we teamed up with the Children's University to offer kids a selection of different workshops and activities. Over the course of the week, a number of local children got the chance to try out their artistic skills and learn about the local environment.
Activities took place both in and outdoors, with Woolley Woods providing the perfect backdrop for some intrepid young explorers to learn about nature and use found materials to make some works of art. Over three days they got the chance to try their hand at a variety of different styles, from clay statues to gigantic nature collages, and get face to face with an array of animals, including a surprise visit from a pony!
We have been delivering film workshops at Pye Bank, Intake, Stradbroke, Longley and Watercliffe Primary schools, as well as at Parkwood Academy. The workshops focussed on our community, journeys and relationships with local people. We worked with more than 50 children over 25 hours and produced 4 films. We even had a Year 7 volunteer from Parkwood come back to his primary school, Watercliffe, to help the children with their film making!
As it turns out we have some very talented young directors in Sheffield! The children loved the green screen effects and impressed with their acting, writing and directing abilities. Many of the children were very keen to get involved with similar projects in the future.
The Pupils of Nether Green Junior School started thinking big to create a huge mural showing all their favourite things about Sheffield. Around 180 pupils experimented with textiles, sunprints, foamfelt, box buildings, printing and 3D shapes to create a huge collage all about Diver City, a fictional city very similar to our own. The five day project brought “new materials, techniques and ideas to the school” igniting the children’s imaginations. The children did an excellent job, creating more pieces than could actually fit onto our huge mural!
Art in the Park hosted three fantastic family-fun days at Watercliffe Meadow Primary school last week. Children made themselves into wonderful fluttering butterflies; everyone was encouraged to be creative as they used glitter, card, felt, ribbons and a whole variety of different methods to create wings, masks and even finger talons! Parents and children then transformed cardboard boxes into lovely butterfly homes as the school hall became a beautiful butterfly land. Across the three days everybody exclaimed how much “fun today has been” and a great time was had by all.
Art in the Park has been working with 9 schools across the city for the Sheffield Children's Festival 2011. 'Fathom' is a deep sea project where children have created their very own creature using model-magic clay and black light pigment paint, that were installed in the Winter Gardens in Sheffield City Centre in July. The creatures were placed in a black-out pod where the UV colours shone through and created an exciting viewing for all! The exhibition was complemented with sounds of the deep sea, created by Doncaster College students from the Creative Music Technology degree programme, to make this an extraordinary experience.
The following schools have taken part in the Festival: Monteney Primary, Norfolk Park Special School, Emmanuel Junior, Firs Hill Community Primary, Intake Primary, Longley School, Concord Junior, Broomhill Infant and Manor Lodge Primary.
Sheffield Children’s Festival commissioned Art in the Park’s Thomas Richards to create this freestanding, flat pack exhibition space. If you or your group is interested in hiring it please contact Lu on 01142686813 or luisa@artinthepark.org.uk
Families were invited to make their own deep sea creatures with the help of our artists. Over 1000 people enjoyed this extraordinary sea experience!!
In preparation for Sheffield's No Limits Film Festival, Art in the Park film maker Jenson Grant and volunteer Whitney Bryan worked with school pupils to create a fantastic range of short films about the environment. Check out some of the films below!
Pupils from Stradbroke Primary School are spending 6 after school sessions with Artist, Annie Beech, to build a willow den in the school grounds. Sessions have been hands on, hard work and fun! Soil has been dug, worms have been found and willow planted. Pupils have developed practical building skills and a connection with nature; the school will be left with a living den to work, rest and play in.
Annie worked on this project with the help of one of the schools teacher's Kathryn Cockayne. Kathryn gave her opinion on the project, stating that: 'Annie is lovely and the kids got such a lot out of it'.
As part of the Parkwood Academy Cohesion Project, artist Lois Conlan worked with Y4, Y5 and Y7s from Pye Bank Primary, Longley Primary, Watercliffe Meadow Community Primary and Parkwood Academy to create a number of shadow puppetry performances. These performances were influenced by the children’s opinions about where they live, the journeys they or their families have made to be here and the experiences they have each day.
5 children were invited from each school to come together at Parkwood Academy, to create a collaborative drama performance on the same theme with Art in the Park practitoner Imogen Ashby.
On 5th April these performances were unveiled at the Parkwood Academy Celebration, where Art in the Park Chief Executive Luisa Golob hosted the event and welcomed special guests David Blunkett MP and the Lord Mayor to the school. As well as the performances, parents, teachers and pupils received a copy of the specially commisioned Parkwood publication: featuring poems and stories written by pupils and parents of the four schools, who attended after-school writing sessions.
David Blunkett, MP for Sheffield Brightside and Hillsborough praised the hard work of all involved saying 'I'm very proud of all of you for pulling this together & celebrating our diversity.'
Throughout October and November Art in the Park worked with Porter Croft Primary and Springfield Primary to create designs for exciting new public art works to be installed in Broomhall.
The children's work influenced the new permanent banners, street furniture, welcome markers and notice boards for the area. The aim of the project was to raise the profile of the area by challenging people’s preconceptions. The permanent pieces will bring colour and creativity to an often neglected area of Sheffield and we hope to encourage a renewed sense of pride in Broomhall.
Our poets visited local schools and colleges all over Stannington, Penistone and Denby Dale as part of our Villages of Poetry Project and worked with local children to produce poems describing their favorite things about their areas.
We will pick our favorite poems to feature on an interactive outdoor Poetry Trail, which will be installed around the three villages in Summer 2011.
The following schools took part in the Villages of Poetry Project:
From April to June, as part of the Sheffield Children’s Festival, Art in the Park artists worked with Sheffield pupils from 14 schools (including inclusion units and Sheffield Children’s Hospital) to create a beautiful flock of golden starlings! Using a 'new' material called polymorph, which can be moulded using just hot water before it sets hard, children from across the city created 1040 golden starling mini sculptures which artist Tom Richards then brought these together to make an impressive golden flock. The magnificent sculpture was on public display in the Sheffield Cathedral until the 4th July 2010 before being dismantled and the various sections put on display in local schools.
We have worked in the following schools running after school art and craft sessions. These projects were funded through the Positive Activities for Young People funding from Sheffield City Council, aimed at providing engaging activities for 8-13 year olds.
Sessions were run by professional artists, and ran fairly long term to allow children to really learn new skills, work together and see results. Activities over these sessions included textiles, painting, poetry, willow sculptures, sign making, crafts such as making natural photo frames, and metal work.
“At the end of the session, [a boy] came up to me and said, “I've never said this to anyone who's come here before but this today was fandabidabidabidozy!” Artist AITP
Tinsley Junior, February to March 2011
Our artist Michelle Roper will be working with children to create Recycled Robots.
Tinsley Junior, January to February 2011
Our artist Jess MacNair has been working with children at Tinsley Junior school to create some art pieces inspired by Islam. Together they looked at the different patterns and stunning shapes found in Islamic art, and in turn, aimed to find their own decorative designs from the shapes that they could see in the classroom and outside the school. We recorded our ideas in homemade sketchbooks with the outer covers created using a marbling technique. The task for the final two weeks was to cover a canvas, using all the skills they had aquired. They used a collage technique with tissue paper and watered down glue to create their final individual patterns.
Oughtibridge Primary, January to March 2011
Our artist Charlie Hill is working with children to create Enviromental Art. Over the past 9 weeks our artist Charlie Hill has been with children to investigate nature through art using natural materials . They used their senses to experience the outdoors in a different way; documenting what could be heard and seen outside and developing sound maps, journey sticks and colour studies of natural objects. After the intial investigations, the last 4 weeks of the project were spent on a gaint tree weaving project. Working in small groups, brightly coloured wool and recycled materials were used to create gaint weavings which wrapped around the trees in the school woods . These weavings have added colour to the landscape during the last of the winter months and kept the trees warm too!
Oughtibridge Primary, October to December 2010
Our artist Lois Conlan worked with the children to create shadow puppets and scenery which they then used to create a performance piece. In addition to this the children made individual fancy dress outfits to go with the performance. The final piece was performed to the children's parents.
Shooters Grove Primary, June to July 2010
Our artists worked with the children to design fruit and vegetable themed cartoon characters in order to promote a healthy eating message. These were then displayed all around the school to encourage the other children to eat more fruit and veg.
Wisewood Primary and Secondary After School Clubs, March 2010
Our artist Jane Mellor worked with the children from the primary school to create colourful ceramic mosaics. Once the children had mastered the basic skills they were then taught how to make individual clay masks, which were then decorated with more colourful mosaic patterns.
Nook Lane Primary, September 2009 to July 2010
Our artist Ruthie Ford taught the children how to create decorated 2D willow animals using a variety of materials including willow sticks, tissue paper and ribbon.
Stradbroke Primary, September 2009 to July 2010
Our artist Anneke Kuipers challenged the children to think about what is special about Sheffield and in particular their local area. This involved creating individual postcards of their favorite places around Sheffield. In addition to this the children worked a a group to create large scale collages of the local area, which were then put on display inside the school.
(Aimed at 8-13year olds, funded by Sheffield City Council)
This project was something completely new for Art in the Park! Working in partnership with Sheffield Children's Festival, and on a size and timescale that we had never done before, it was a really exciting time for us.
Textile artist Ruthie Ford, supported by visual artist Annie Beech, worked with Special schools from across the city to create an enormous den that proved to be a feast for the eyes and the senses. Recycled junk saw a new lease of life, coming back as light mobiles, plant pots, musical instruments and even the very structure of the den itself! Pupils were able to try their hand at weaving with willow and other materials as the den took shape over two weeks. Over 500 children were involved in making the den or had a chance to play in it, which we think is absolutely fantastic! As part of the programme we also ran 4 open access making days to the public as well as time to explore the den once it was complete.
“A unique opportunity for children to unblock their learning - often they are so overwhelmed by lack of esteem that they won't allow themselves to use imagination and be confident to just go with their instincts. [This project helped to developed the childrens' creativity in that] they were absorbed in the activity, where most of the time they can only sustain concentration for a maximum of 15 minutes. A very beneficial experience for these exceptional vulnerable children. These children are the ones who truly need this. Thank you.” Teacher, Primary Inclusion Unit
“Everyone had fun and the help was fantastic. [The children] all talked to each other and were fantastic at asking for help. [their creativity was developed through] skills such as cutting and weaving, doing things we haven't done at school. We loved it! for a behaviour school, no one misbehaved - excellent stuff.” Teacher, Heritage Park
The objective of this project was to create permanent artwork for the school. Wisewood Secondary is merging with another local school in 2011 and the project aimed to celebrate the talent of pupils. An artist ran weekly two hour sessions with a group of pupils from Y8. Throughout the summer term, they learnt wire sculpture techniques and created a series of life size wire figures. These were decorated using beading and other metal work. The finished pieces have been installed in a central area of the school. What was good about the project? “You could talk to friends” “it was fun to do something in groups” “it was fun to do something we don't usually do” “the help was good” “being creative” “missing English” “making stuff using wire” “Good that there were lots of people from AITP to help” “not being strict” “good materials” “doing a good subject” “good helpers”
As part of the project we also ran 3 workshops with Wisewood Church to create a mosaic that represented Wisewood and the community. This was finished by children that attended a summer event in Spider Park and will hang in he new green quad area of the school along with the wire sculptures.
