ARNOLFINI – ARTISTS IN RESIDENCE
WE ARE FAMILY – Working with Keiko, the Head of Engagement, gives us the opportunity to provide our activities for the We Are Family sessions. We appreciate the irreplaceable role that parents and educators play in nurturing a child’s creative spirit. It’s a partnership, a collaborative effort that shapes these young minds into not just artists, but into creative thinkers and empathetic beings. Exposing children to the world of art beyond the classroom is beneficial. Trips to museums, galleries, and local art fairs can open their eyes to the vastness of the art world. These experiences enrich their understanding and appreciation of art, embedding in them a sense of curiosity and wonder.
ROYAL ACADEMY OF THE WEST OF ENGLAND
| DATE | NAME OF WORKSHOP | WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION |
| May 2014 | Children’s Workshop – The Power of the Sea The Power of the Sea – Review | Responding to the exhibition The Power of the Sea, we provided a day of workshops painting plaster of paris fish, show puppets with a show, mixed media sea creatures, and everyone contributed to an ocean backdrop with fabric and recycled materials. A giant sea snake made an appearance too! |
| Jan 2015 | The Creative Gym – Adult Art Workshop RWA Bristol | The Creative Gym was a series of fun art-making workshops offered by the Royal West of England Academy. The workshops explored a variety of materials to make; collages, embroidery, ink drawing and book making. |
| Oct 2015 | Children’s Workshop – Paper Clothes | Pleat, sculpt, cut and tear – make clothes to wear from paper, adding your own patterns and colours. Children will be adding to our designs inspired by the disposable paper dresses from the 1960s. |
| July 2016 | Children’s Collage Workshop – Jamaican PulseResponses to Jamaican Pulse | A creative collage workshop using bold Jamaican fabrics and printed papers, inspired by Ebony G. Patterson’s artworks in the Jamaican Pulse exhibition. |
| Oct 2016 | Children’s Workshop – Eames Twirling Toys | Inspired by Charles Eames’ twirling toys. We provided a twirling, whirling mobiles workshop. |
| Feb 2017 | Family Collage Workshop – Fairy Tale Misfits Art Rabbit – Fairy Tale Misfit Collage | Families can cut, rip and stick to make fantastic creatures, inspired by the current exhibition Strange Worlds: The Vision of Angela Carter |
| May 2017 | Children’s Pop Art Workshop | Drawing LAB – a mixed media workshop creating a Pop Art masterpiece by drawing on acetate over collage inspired by Andy Warhol. |
| Feb 2018 | Children’s Block Printing WorkshopFrink-Blow-Lawson Exhibition Block Printing Workshop – RWA | Design and print your own canvas bag to take home, in the style of Sandra Blow. |
| May 2018 | Children Circus 150 Event WorkshopSawdust and Sequins – RWA Circus Costumes – RWAPaper Circus Puppets – RWA | Family Event to celebrate Circus250 – a UK-wide celebration of 250 years of circus.To launch the exhibition, Sawdust and Sequins, the RWA hosted an open weekend of live performances and workshops. We provided a family workshop creating circus themed art, including Paper Sack costumes, ceramic tiles and puppets. |
| Oct 2018 | Family Half Term Workshop – Banners | Colourful and bold banners inspired by the slogans from artist @bobandrobertasmith. |
| March 2019 | Family Workshop – Sculpture Lab Sculpture Lab – RWA Collaborative Balloon Modelling | Giant collaborative sculpture with balloons. |
| March 2019 | Art Education Workshop – Sculpture Lab Sculpture Lab – RWA | Guiding students from The Dolphin School to create a huge indoor sculpture park with recycled cardboard, tubes, tape etcThe sculpture exhibitions at RWA were accompanied by The Sculpture Lab; a space designed to encourage interaction and participation. Materials were available for everyone to join in making sculptural mobiles, balsa foam figures, and abstract cardboard sculptures. |
| Dec 2019 | Children’s Cyanotypes Workshop – Junior Drawing School Junior Drawing School – Cyanotypes | Exploring the earliest ‘shadowgram’ photography techniques to make striking blue and white cyanotype images. |
| April 2020 | Family Free Online WorkshopDiorama Online Workshop INSTRUCTIONS :: Diorama Art | DIORAMA – A tiny world in a box inspired by Wilhelmina Barnes-Graham’s travel paintings. What places do you love to visit? Where have you been on holiday? Where would you like to go? What would you love to explore? |
| May 2020 | Family Free Online Workshop – Eames Stacking And Slotting CardsINSTRUCTIONS :: Sculpture Inspired by Travel | This is for all the family to make together (or individually) with materials you might be able to find at home. Due to recent restrictions, travelling for pleasure seems like a distant memory.This activity directly responded to their exhibition, Wilhelmina Barns-Graham: Inspirational Journeys.Using sculpture as a starting point, we created a tutorial inspired by Charles and Ray Eames, House of Cardsto make your own towering colourful sculpture covered in imagery that reminds you of travelling far and wide – to real or imaginary places. |
| June 2020 | Family Free Online Workshop – Blow Paint MonstersOnline Workshop – Paint Blowing How To Blow Paint | Let’s Make Art | Dot | Step by step video instructions to have a colourful, messy and creative time together |
| June 2020 | Family Free Online Workshop – Paper DollsINSTRUCTIONS :: Paper Doll Projects | A paper doll art project is a way to hold hands with the important people in your life that you can’t spend time with at the moment – you can keep and display them or send them to the friends/family you’re missing. |
| Dec 2020 | Family Free Online Workshop – 𓇽 Surprise Balls 𓇽 Free Family Workshop – Surprise Balls Surprise Balls Workshop by Let’s Make Art | An alternative and eco-friendly way of packaging small treats, notes and trinkets for children and grown ups.Online video workshop for all the family this pass-it-on style activity conveys a message about what’s important, bringing families together online or at home. This nostalgic novelty will delight young and old as you unwrap the multi-coloured crepe paper to reveal tiny treasures, trinkets, fun forfeits and treats.Featured on BBC Bristol Breakfast Show |
| Feb 2021 | Family Free Online Workshop – Mindfulness And MandalasJunior Drawing School – Mandalas | A celebration of LGBTQ history month, following the theme ‘Body, Mind, Spirit’ which is really poignant for the time we find ourselves in, as now more than ever, it’s really important to look after those things.This is a reflective workshop for young artists wishing to spend time thoughtfully and patiently with different art materials.Perfect activity for a rainy day indoors, we demonstrate how to create a unique and personal mandala from things you can find easily around the house. The process of making a mandala will manifest mindfulness. Young artists will be inspired by the rhythms and patterns of mandalas as well as a discussion about the origin of these artworks and how they are used for meditation.This is a great opportunity for younger artists to build on their skills, learning about symmetry, colour and repeat patterns. The mandala is used as a healing tool, associated with reducing stress and the colours you choose can impact both the way you feel about the artwork and your mood when making it. We hope you find it a relaxing activity to create an individual piece of artwork to display and remind ourselves to be positive. |
| March 2021 | Family Free Online Workshop – Play And Make Free Family Workshop – Exquisite Corpse | RWA Bristol | Life is more fun if you play games – Roald DahlThe brief was to offer light relief to families after balancing life as they coped with the challenges of the coronavirus lockdown. When routines have adapted, sometimes relationships have changed, especially as many parents take on the role of teacher. For this free family workshop we guided families through a fun collage activity and some more drawing games. The intergenerational activities and games bring escapism, connection, conciliation and fun for all ages. |
| Dec 2021 | Family Free Online Workshop – Christmas MakeLantern Making with Recycled Papers Instructions – Lantern Making PDF | We provided a sustainable activity for all the family using recycled gift wrap and other colourful papers discarded at Christmas. The video shows how to make an easy paper lantern to decorate and illuminate.An Akash Kandil is a lantern, usually made with a wooden framework and covered in coloured matte or glossy papers. These lanterns are generally hung in front of homes during the Hindu festival of lights, Diwali. |
| May 2022 | Commission – Design Family Explorer Trail Peski Studio ✎ Seekan 思芹 David Partington Illustration Free Family Explorer Guide – RWA | We devised a family activity for the reopening of the Royal Academy, with the support of Venetia Rogers.We asked David Partington from Peski Studio to bring our ideas to life and Seeken Hui to design the layout.The brief was to design a trail with activities to engage families in exploring the RWA building and history in its own right. The aim being that they become familiar with the space and the organisation’s aims while having fun exploring together. We put the children in charge, getting them to construct the booklet before leading their family members around the building to discover the facts and complete our activities. When we looked at the building it reminded us of the tiers on a grand cake and so invited the children to decorate it. The trail can be found in the Family Room along with other activities. |
| August 2022 | Family Workshop – Celebrating The Bountifulness Of EarthCelebrating the Bountifulness of Earth | Hosted in the main gallery, children decorated a paper globe with cut outs from vinyl, displaying their ideas of what makes the Earth perfect. Favourite animals, flowers, food, ocean life, family members, Star Wars and more were added. The vinyl was sourced from The Children’s Scrapstore, so instead of going into a landfill we made art with it!The exhibition examines how attitudes towards the landscape have evolved over the centuries and how artists’ approaches have changed over time; from the pastoral idylls of the 18th century, to present-day confrontations of the climate emergency. |
DECO PUBLIQUE – NATIONAL FESTIVAL OF MAKING, VINTAGE BY THE SEA
HEMMINGWAY DESIGN – URBAN VILLAGE FETE, SAMPLE
NEW BREWERY ARTS
EDGE ARTS BATH
PENINSULA ARTS INSTITUTE PLYMOUTH
BRISTOL BEACON – HOOHA
WATERSHED – FAMILY WORKSHOPS, OKIDO
TOBACCO FACTORY –
ARTSPACE LIFESPACE
ALBATROSS CAFE
STORYSMITH
