On 8 July the Art Department took a large group of Year 10 Fine Art students on a trip to Oxford. They visited the Ashmolean Museum, Pitt Rivers Museum and the Botanical Gardens, and took the opportunity to walk around the city and observe the architecture. The visit focussed on the controlled assessment component of their course and provided an excellent research opportunity.
On Wednesday 29 June the Art Department took a group of BTEC 3D and Creative & Media Diploma students to the biennial outdoor sculpture show in Quenington near Cirencester. This gave them an exciting opportunity to experience a huge range of contemporary sculpture made from a diverse range of materials in a beautiful garden setting.
The students were also able to take part in a Construct a Landscape workshop with Studio Seven artists Jenny Bicat and Corinne Hockley. Taking inspiration from the sculptures in the Old Rectory Garden the students made 3D landscape models of elements in the garden, such as the water wheel, the cone in the river race and the scissor bridge. These pieces will be on display in the New Brewery Arts community exhibition space over the summer holidays.
We are planning a visit to the Knitting & Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday 9th October.
This visit will be a very exciting opportunity to see work by contemporary textile artists; you can be assured of an inspirational day. The cost will be £20 to include coach transport and entry into the exhibition.
If you are interested please contact Carolyn Roberts at car@churchdown.gloucs.sch.uk.
Some of the dresses on display
Joining in
On Wednesday 3 February, fifteen AS and A-level Art/Textiles students equipped with cameras and notebooks visited this exciting exhibition of war time textiles, held at the Museum at the Park in Stroud. The entrance to the show was like going down Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole as students walked through the vents of a giant red coat.
Inside the students were confronted with a giant dress made from a parachute and other pieces of art-textiles made from recycled clothes and materials. Students were encouraged to enjoy using the equipment available: some tried their hand at weaving, others tried to operate a spinning wheel and others made soft heart-shaped brooches to go on a large hanging.
This exhibition introduced the concept of recycling, repairing and renewing an item, quite unnatural in the ‘throw-away’ attitude which developed in the twentieth century.
A great visit, which has proved very useful in preparation for the examination the students are now doing.
