Fisherton Residency – Weeks 9, 10 & 11, Final Workshops and Preparing for the Exhibition.
During my last weeks at Fisherton Primary School I have been focused on preparations for the exhibition to mark the culmination of the residency. I titled the exhibition Light and Landscape to mirror the photographic and environmental themes behind the work. The exhibition was intended to be a celebration of the work the children produced and ran for one day incorporating a workshop where the children could pass on a skill they had learnt to their parents. However before preparations for the exhibition got fully underway I ran one final workshop.
For the last activity I wanted to do something that would promote individual drawing and creativity beyond the end of the residency. For this I introduced the concept of a sketchbook to each year group and ran bookmaking classes to created individual sketchbooks for each child in the school and nursery. To create the front covers of the books we employed skills that we had learnt previously including making cyanotype sun prints and using oil pastels and watercolours. Allowing the children to begin working in their sketchbooks independently I was really pleased by how much more confident they were, especially with drawing. The sketchbooks were really successful and I hope to get the opportunity to come back and see them filled up!
Moving toward the exhibition all the work was finished and mounted and the large photographic collage of the school was framed so it could be permanently hung in the school. A poster was created and I wrote a statement to accompany the event. The exhibition was held on the 14th of June in the village hall. As the hall had limited availability I had to put up and take down the exhibition very quickly. Thankfully I had great support from Leona from South Ayrshire Council and some of the parents from the school. The exhibition was a great success with 90% of parents coming along with their children along with the teachers and staff of the school and members of the public. I had some great conversations with the visitors throughout the day and received really positive feedback. The cyanotype workshop I ran was also a great success incorporating a hands-on element to the experience.
I have now finished my time at the school. It has been a great learning experience and I am thankful for the level of freedom I have been afforded to naturally develop my own program of workshops in keeping with my own knowledge and strengths as an artist. There are many things that I have learnt that would perhaps alter my approach to certain aspects if involved in a similar project in the future, however I could not have asked for a better response from the children. It has been an extremely challenging and rewarding experience.
