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Walsall Arts for All
Overview
Walsall Arts for All is a programme, which seeks to make a positive difference to the lives of children & young people in Walsall, using the arts as a way to help build understanding between different cultures and communities in this richly diverse area.
There are 14 Walsall schools involved in the programme, each of whom has been paired up with another school from a different part of Walsall.
Professional artists have been working with schools to explore themes, create an original piece of art in both schools, and find creative ways to connect children & young people.
Walsall Arts for All is a programme of the Walsall Cultural Education Partnership, with investment from Arts Connect and Walsall for All, which is funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government.
Exhibition Visual Walkthrough
Primary School
Abbey Primary & Delves Junior & Infants
Artist: Claire Witcomb
Project: Friendship Walls
Using fabric, threads and recycled materials to make a story from a number of interconnected elements and convey the idea of friendships and connection, designed with watercolours, pens and pencils to create images that visually represented the connection between different people. Using recycled wood to create imaginary, fantasy creatures through a combination of collaged and drawn images.
Primary School
Christ Church CE Primary & Salisbury Primary
Artist: Witcomb
Project: Wings of Ambition
Exploring the idea of wings – wings that can carry you somewhere, and positive ideas of affirmation and thinking about the future. A mixture of recycled material was used to create the artwork.
Primary School
Rosedale Infants & St Joseph's Catholic Primary
Artist: Claire Witcomb
Project: Beyond My Wildest Dreams
Using recycled wood to create imaginary, fantasy creatures through a combination of collaged and drawn images.
Secondary School
Blue Coat CE Academy & Bloxwich Academy
Artist: Becky (Good Wives & Warriors)
Project: Community / Collaboration
Exploring identity, culture and stories from different heritages, finding similarities across cultures to tell stories and create mythical creatures.
Primary School
Blue Coat Junior & Infants & Watling Street Primary
Artist: Henrietta Ellis and Celia Houghton
Project: Landmarks that Link Us
Creation of banners, with each one depicting the schools’ local landmarks: for Watling Street, the Brownhills ‘Iron Man’ and for Blue Coat, St. Matthew’s Church.
Children were also introduced to sewing with a simple running stitch. This ‘simple’ stich has only been used to create the banners. Children also thought of a short, positive word to stitch and then used their imagination to think of a design.
Primary School
Pinfold Street Primary & St Anne's Catholic Primary
Artist: Claire Leggett
Project: Who Are We?
Learning and being curious about other people living in other places, being open to new discoveries, new communities and different ways of living.
Using recycled materials and acrylic paint to mono-print using gelatine plates, making textures and applying stencils to create details for areas of housing, green spaces, roadways and buildings of heritage and community interest.
Secondary School
Aldridge School & Ormiston Shelfield Academy
Artist: David Brown (aka Panda/Flake)
Project: Cultural Identity
Using graffiti/street art to explore the theme of what Walsall meant to each of the students and how they linked with other young people at other schools.
Schools feedback
‘The children learnt the value of art – all art is art – children were allowed to be expressive’
‘Kids found out about their own cultures and cultural traditions as well as others’
‘The children learned resilience, trial and error, design processes and evaluating as you go along’
‘Lots of discussion about collaboration and working together’
‘Increase in well-being and positivity’
Student feedback
‘Loved connecting and celebrating cultures and communities’
‘It was fun, good, a bit hard, gave me new ideas, really good’
‘We found that art can be beautiful no matter where it comes from’
‘I feel famous because a lot of people will see my work’
‘It made me feel really proud to see our art on display, just knowing it was our work made me feel proud’
Get in touch
To find out more about Walsall Arts for All, visit the Walsall CEP website: www.walsallcep.co.uk/wafa