SCHOOL LINKING NETWORK – BRIDGES FOR COMMUNITIES – ARNOLFINI ARTS >> July 2022 – present
A charity striving to develop and deepen young people’s knowledge and understanding of identity, diversity, equality and community. Creating a space for discussion of these issues within the school curriculum and supporting teachers to address them, as well as providing the opportunity for children and young people to meet, build new relationships, work together and contribute to the wider community.
We were invited to provide an activity which would enable the children to develop skills of enquiry, critical thinking, reflection and communication. Hosting four YR5 classes, over two days, to create self portraits, we asked the children to think of words that described themselves and decorated blank templates with Posca pens. The children connected with each other, exploring their differences and similarities, building new friendships and exploring their identities. The finished heads were then observed in pairs and we discussed what conversations could be created with the information given. To complement the activity Alex Parson created sessions relating to mindfulness, well being and explored how the children’s brains function. The difference in the dynamic between the children from the morning to the end of the day was one of the most heartwarming things we’ve seen in our work recently.
EASTON CE ACADEMY
BISHOP HENDERSON PRIMARY
AVONMOUTH C OF E PRIMARY
ST NICHOLAS TOLENTINE PRIMARY
CLIFTON COLLEGE
PARSON STREET PRIMARY
ASHTON PARK SECONDARY SCHOOL
ST MARY REDCLIFFE
Bristol School Linking – Bridges For Communities
EXHIBITION September 2024
ARNOLFINI
THE LIVING ROOM
The Living Room | How Do We Live Well Together?
Bristol School Linking – Bridges For Communities
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
An initiative which funded artists to visit schools and host workshops. We collaborated with Dave Bain – Mural Artist to create two murals for schools in Bristol. At Badocks Wood Primary we ran workshops engaging with the whole school for their input on what would be painted on the vibrant welcome school fence mural. A 30m long fence mural transforms a dull stretch of fencing into a joyful, colourful and vibrant welcome to a primary school. It was commissioned and funded by Artists in Residence – a charity bringing high-quality artist residencies to schools across the UK. The artwork highlights the three core values at Badock’s Wood E-Act Academy and incorporates their tree logo brand. Additional imagery was derived from and inspired by a series of workshops run by us. – Badocks / school fence mural — Dave Bain illustration | Freelance illustrator Bristol, UK
We ran a series of workshops in Greenfield E-Act Academy where we worked with a small group of young carers and discussed what the school meant to them, focusing on the values and their surroundings. An allotment adjacent to the playing field and a small wood provided many animals, including; guinea pigs, rabbits, squirrels and bees. Dave’s illustrative mural artwork played homage to this workshop material and features the owl in the school’s logo, as well as the various animals found in and around the school. Tying it all together are phrases the children wrote down, directly connected to the school’s key values.
SCHOOL ENRICHMENT WORKSHOPS
We run workshops suitable for the whole school, class or for small groups. Children can build large, impressive art works to display in school or make smaller items to take home. We make sure all children that take part in our workshops do so in ways which best suit their individual needs and ability. [Karen and Alice to add content of past school projects]
| DATE | SCHOOL/S | PROJECT | ORGANISATION |
| APRIL 2018 | HOLY CROSS PRIMARYLUCKWELL PRIMARYCOMPASS POINTASHTON GATE PRIMARY | SCHOOL WORKSHOPS – ASSEMBLAGE PROJECTOur bespoke school workshops in primary schools. Children exhibited their tiles as collaborative artworks for the South Bristol Art Trail. Assemblage is art that is made by assembling disparate elements – often everyday objects – scavenged by the artist. Inspired by Louise Nevelson, an American sculptor known for her monumental, monochromatic, wooden wall pieces and outdoor sculptures, each child created their own tile using found objects and recyclable items and arranged them in interesting patterns and placements. | SOUTH BRISTOL ARTS TRAIL |
| JUNE 2018 | ST URSULAS E-ACT ACADEMYSt Ursula’s E-ACT Academy | SCHOOL WORKSHOP – CARNIVAL COSTUMESMaking Mardi Gras costumes with YR3 students who were studying the customs and culture of Brazil. | |
| [insert first year] | THE DOWNS PREPARATORY SCHOOLArt | The Downs Preparatory School | SCHOOL ARTS WEEKTo encourage conversations about the environment and green issues we made Bricolage sculptures from recycled materials The Beauty of Science – large geometric shapes made individually and displayed collectively.Animal Farm themed activity taking inspiration from the Toy Masks from Eames Office the children decorated their own mask with bold coloursWe invited YR 4 and 7 to create ‘Mini Me Worry Dolls’. | |
| FEB 2020 | [NAME OF SCHOOL]Make Play Do | SCHOOL WORKSHOP – FULL DAYEmily from Make Play Do invited us to spend the day with her child’s year group; 60 YR2 children at a school in Buckinghamshire. Decorating sketchbooks, drawing games, BIG masks and more. | |
| JUNE 2021 | HALL GREEN JUNIOR SCHOOL BIRMINGHAM Word Play Laura Carlin Anorak Magazine- Word Play | SCHOOL WORKSHOP | HOW BRAVE IS THE WREN – WORD PLAY |
| JUNE 2021 | EASTON CE ACADEMYArt For Schools Instagram Easton CE Academy | SCHOOL WORKSHOP – EGYPTIAN DEATH MASKSWe spent a day making Egyptian Death Masks with YR3 children. A large, thriving academy situated at the heart of the vibrant, multicultural community of Easton and their motto is ‘Being different. Belonging together’. They welcome children and families of all faiths and those with none. They are pleased to have more than 30 languages spoken in the school and welcome those who have recently arrived in the country. Their vision is for our diverse community to grow together, have fun together and excel in learning.A beautiful mural was being painted in the entrance as we walked through to the classroom and we were greeted by two joyful classes of creative, polite and extremely helpful children. A credit to the two brilliant teachers we met. We made bespoke papier-mâché masks inspired by the traditional shape and the children decorated them using paper straws, vinyl, stickers and paint pens. | |
| JUNE 2021 | SCHOOLS AND COMMUNITY-BASED OUTREACHVanguard: Bristol Street Art Exhibition The Global Goals Vans EU SCHOOLS;Through 22 workshops led by us over 650 children engaged with Climate and Sustainability through art. Easton CE Academy designed Vans shoes inspired by street artist Rowdy’s abstract cityscapes featured in the Vanguard: Bristol Street Art exhibition. The designs reflect conversations with children from year 6 about re-wilding cities and what we can do to make our cities greener. Four Acres Primary School – YR 3 children we looked at SDG 13 Climate ActionMaking Windmills with a Message! We asked YR6 to think about their school’s values as words, images, shapes or patterns. A heart for being kind, a smiley face for enjoyment, a plant for nurture or a friendly handshake for respecting others. They could also draw their favourite thing about their school. They decorated individual wooden hexagons and when placed together created a collaborative piece of artwork, a ‘Positive Hive’ which will be on display in the City Hall in November and after to be permanently placed in the school. Headley Park Primary School – Each YR 1 child chose an endangered species to illustrate onto a ceramic tile with adhesive vinyl sourced at @scrapstorebrist – making art with stuff headed for landfill! We spoke about; Sea Creatures, Flora and Fauna, Birds, Mammals, Primates and Insects that are currently on the IUCN Red list. We looked at the illustrations by Lois Ehlert and how she used simple shapes to create her pictures of animals. We were amazed at the results -these kids are five and six years old! Bannerman Road Community Academy – Partnerships and friendships are important to create togetherness and cooperation. Partnerships between nations give us hope that problems can be solved. Communication, collaboration and compromise will make a huge impact on solving the SDG’s. Working together and how important a shared vision is to maintain a happy and respectful environment.We asked YR’s 4 &5 what words, imagery, shapes or patterns came to mind when thinking about the values and their school.The designs were as simple as a heart for being kind, an ear for listening, a plant or tree for the environment, a medal for bravery or a friendly handshake for respecting others. They each decorated wooden hexagons and when placed together created a collaborative piece of artwork, a ‘Positive Hive’ to be permanently displayed in the school. | EDUCATION PROGRAMME _ DIRECTORSVanguard was presented in association with Bristol Museums at M Shed and curated by a collective of artists, specialists and collectors involved in the global street art movement. It celebrates Bristol’s instrumental involvement in the development of British street art, featuring rare works by leading artists. Collaborating with Vans Europe, who designed us a bespoke 3D trainer worksheet, we devised the education programme to accompany the exhibition. Our activities ran throughout the summer and afterwards in schools across Bristol. Threaded throughout our activities were the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal and our aim was to emphasise their importance through fun and immersive activities. The global goals are a blueprint adopted by the UN to help address the many global challenges we face. More than 40% of the global population are between the ages of 10 and 24 yrs – the largest youth population ever. To solve the world’s problems, the next generation needs to know what those problems are. A good way to ensure this is to teach them about the SDGs. Activities included; designing Vans trainers inspired by the female artists exhibiting, creating a disguise for Banksy, self portraits with words, exploring electronics by building a mini spin art machine, giant pinwheels and more. EXHIBITION OF CHILDREN’S WORK@vanguard_kids_bristol and The Vestibules In November children’s artwork will be displayed at The Vestibules in City Hall. The nature of these workshops will encourage children to express a lot of their emotions through their artwork. “Doing art requires children to think about their ideas, feelings, or experiences with the world, to find symbols to express them, and to share them with others”. When children’s artwork is displayed we are recognising and valuing that. It’s a simple and great way to boost a child’s confidence and self-esteem. They can see their work exhibited and feel a sense of pride. To support the above we will also liaise with schools we visit in September to see if they want a collaborative piece of work to display permanently in their school afterwards. | VANGUARD – STREET ART EXHIBITIONBRISTOL MUSEUM M SHED VANS EUROPE |
| JUNE 2021 | YEO MOOR SCHOOL – CLEVEDON Artists in ResidenceLet’s Make Art – Artists in Residence | SCHOOL WORKSHOP YR3 – IDENTITYExploring identity and qualities and themes of growth. The staff at Yeo Moor asked us to devise workshops to help their Year 3 students with the transition into Year 4 and what kind of qualities this might call for. Through a combination of play, role modelling, discussion and drawing we worked with the school on these aims and they produced some stunning mixed media work in the process. | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE |
| MAY 2022 | BADOCKS WOOD E-ACT ACADEMY – SOUTHMEADDave BainDave Bain : Mural art – Badocks Wood E-Act Academy Artists in ResidenceLet’s Make Art – Artists in Residence | DAVE BAIN – MURAL PROJECTWe provided a full day of workshops and worked with each child in the school, from nursery to YR6. 250 children. They created colourful collages of nature inspired by their surroundings. These artworks then informed Dave when he completed the final mural design.Incorporating the children’s designs, the school’s values and colour palette preferences was a huge task, however Dave managed to include all the above and kept his signature style whilst being considerate to the children’s input | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE |
| JUNE 2022 | ILMINSTER AVENUE E-ACT ACADEMY Artists in ResidenceIlminster Avenue E-Act Academy | SCHOOL WORKSHOP – MUSIC AND ART PROJECT THE ART OF NOISE – A collaborative art project involving the whole school of over 300 children ensuring an artistic response from every child. They decorated a wooden tile in response to listening to different scores of music. The tiles then formed the collaborative rainbow artwork in the music room. “Every aspect of the curriculum holds equal importance to our school; with music influencing our vision and achievements. Music is in our souls. Our children are natural-born performers with rhythm in their bones.”The workshop allowed the children to show sound through line, shape and colour. Each year group was given a different piece of music to respond to, prompted by smooth or jagged? Spiky or round? Curvy or straight? Zig zag or dots? There were no right answers – just how each individual interpreted the sounds. The patterns and mark makings were then drawn onto different coloured wooden hexagon tiles with Posca pens. | ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE |
Learning opportunities:
- Children learn about different materials and techniques
- Opportunity to explore their creativity and imagination
- Confidence is increased with developing new skills
- Encourage teamwork, listening and hand to eye coordination
- Strengthen enthusiasm and development of individual artistic ideas
[Karen and Alice to insert workshops available in line with curriculum]
SCHOOL LINKING –
ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE – link to resources page
Working with mural artist Dave Bain children were tasked with creating a mural inspired by their school values and local community. The process was not just about putting paint on a wall; it was an exercise in listening, understanding, and empathising with the narratives of others.
HOME EDUCATION — OUR BOOK
Sessions at St Annes – Bricks starting in September 2025 – more info soon
