For the last 18 months, I have been working for Sculpture at Kingham Lodge (now called Cotswold Arts Through Schools - ed), doing workshops and art mornings in local primary schools around the Cotswolds. The government has completely cut the art and music budget, teachers are generally overworked and have to get through a very academic curriculum with children from an early age. Sculpture at Kingham Lodge fund artists like me to go into schools not only to teach children art, but also pay for their art materials to make sure they can have the best artistic experience possible. I have mostly been working alongside my great friend Emma Cox @emmacoxart, it is extremely rewarding watching children lose themselves and express themselves without worrying about the curriculum, grades or outcomes!
The charity puts on the most fantastic exhibition at Kingham Lodge in May every couple of years. This year they had over 500 artworks from British and Zimbabwean sculptors, and for the first time, invited a few of the schools we work with to exhibit a work of sculpture. I worked with three schools, St. David’s in Moreton-in-Marsh, Hook Norton Primary School, and year 5 at Orchard Fields School in Banbury.
I made a giant ‘Plastic Fish’ with St. David’s, each child painted a scale made from milk bottles, which we then tied into giant fronds using fishing wire, which hung from a large hazel bough. This was hung from the ceiling in the Pavilion for all to walk under.
Hook Norton worked in papier mache making different figures, including the Hook Norton Brewery horses, and made an enormous, colourful mobile. This was hung outside the Pavilion in the cloisters, blowing in the wind.
Orchard Fields wanted to bring the Banbury Sun to life by making a huge wire and plastic sun which we made from shreds of cereal box plastic inserts painted yellow, bottle tops and green gardening wire. This amazing sculpture was hung in the trees rustling in the wind.
All the children from the schools were invited by Sculpture at Kingham Lodge to see their creations. You could see the pride they felt at seeing their hard work being celebrated alongside professional artists. It was a magical experience!
