Projects

Art & Nature Summer School 2014

DATES: TUESDAY 29 JULY – FRIDAY 1 AUGUST

The 2014 Art and Nature Summer School produced a diverse and exciting week. Artists Isabella Martin & Kaitlin Ferguson led a programme exploring different viewpoints of the natural landscape and the biodiversity of what lives within it. The Summer School involved collaboration with bird expert Joe Gaze, wildlife and geology expert Tim Holt Wilson, and UEA Scientist and insect expert Katherine Kite.

Over four days, the artists and scientists worked with a group of fifteen 8-12 year olds to learn about science and local biodiversity through making art. The Summer School explored the local environment, the grounds of the UEA and the Sainsbury Centre Collection in relation to a wider perspective of the Earth. Perspectives on the natural landscape were explored through adopting worm’s-eye and bird’s- eye views, in order to contrast different viewpoints.

The School balanced outdoor adventures with working in the studio, activities included: bird watching and storytelling, making insect eyes, outdoor nature sculptures, weather measuring machines and a large scale collaborative satellite drawing. Everyday everyone contributed to a collaborative cross section collage on the wall, which progressed from exploring what’s underground on the first day, through to looking at what’s above on the last day.

The week finished with an exhibition curated collaboratively by the children working in teams, transforming the studio to display all the work made during the week. As well as this a private view was held with a prize giving ceremony and speeches by the children. This wonderful final exhibition demonstrated the variety of work, enthusiasm and great skill of the children involved, and demonstrated how well they worked together to explore their shared goal of developing their knowledge of local environment.

http://www.pinterest.com/noweather/art-nature-summer-school-2014/