Salford Schools & The Lowry Pave The Way For New Playground Area
The Lowry’s Art of White Exhibition Inspires Pupils To Create Unique ‘White Garden’ For St Patrick’s High School
Five Salford primary schools (St Joseph the Worker, St Teresa’s, St Mary’s RC (Eccles), Holy Cross & All Saints and St Gilbert’s) have got involved with The Lowry and two artists to create decorative paving slabs for a special ‘White Garden’ that will become part of a new play area at St Patrick’s Roman Catholic High School in Salford.
Taking their inspiration from The Lowry’s Art of White exhibition, the year five and six pupils have been designing and casting ten one metre wide circular paving stones from white concrete. When complete, five of these ‘Stepping Stones’ will be laid in the new St Patrick’s play area, with the remaining slabs been laid within the grounds of the other participating schools. The concept behind the ‘sharing’ of the slabs is to forge a symbolic and physical link between St Patrick’s and its feeder primary schools - reflecting the continuity of the pupils’ journey from primary school to secondary education.
Two artists are working with the children on the project, with Ash Brennan helping the pupils with their individual school’s designs, and Jack Doyle working with them on creating the actual casts and setting the concrete. Ash, from Buxton is a fine arts specialist whilst Jack, who lives in Fallowfield, is an artist with over 20 years experience in concrete. Jack works with The Lowry on a regular basis and has been involved in various projects including schools workshops and teaching adult visual art courses.
Jack said of working with the pupils “Although concrete’s quite an alien material for children, they have really loved getting involved in making concrete. They’ve been carrying bags of materials and mixing buckets of silver sand, limestone gravel and white cement. Everyone’s really enjoying being part of the whole process and looking forward to seeing their ‘stepping stone’ in situ when they move up to Secondary school.”
The Lowry’s community and education team used the arts complexes’ critically acclaimed Art of White exhibition as the children’s creative springboard for the ‘Stepping Stones’ project. Many of the children involved visited the exhibition to get ideas before returning to the classroom to start designing the paving. The Art of White is The Lowry’s blockbuster exhibition that examines the use of the colour white in art over the last 500 years. The exhibition has also inspired pupils to get involved in designing other aspects of the new St Patrick’s playground area, including a new bench and special mural.
Commenting on the project Kate Kennedy of The Lowry’s Community and Education team said: “Nearly 200 pupils are involved with the ‘’Stepping Stones’ project and we’re thrilled we have been able to engage so many local schools in the initiative. Its also another good example of how The Lowry reaches out to local children and gets them involved in arts and culture outside of the classroom. However, the creative work they are undertaking also complements many key areas of the curriculum they are studying which means this project also directly benefits the teachers and schools.”
Charles Magee, Art College Director at St Patrick’s added: “Getting five neighbouring primary schools to contribute towards designing and building our new playground area is a great idea and I can’t wait to see the White Garden when it’s finished. However, the fact that there will be a physical link between the participating schools and St Patrick’s through this creative work is even more significant, as it will help give new pupil’s a sense of continuity when they move up from primary to secondary education – which is often a challenging experience for many children.”
Students from St Patrick’s, who are all studying GCSE art, have also been closely involved in ‘Stepping Stones’ and are themselves producing an additional 10 art pavements for their school. The Year 10 pupils have also been helping and mentoring the local primary school children involved with the project.
However, before any of the slabs are officially laid in the respective school grounds prior to the start of winter term, a selection of the pupils’ work will go on display to the public in The Lowry’s Studio.
Kate Kennedy and Jack Doyle are available for interview. For more information, hi-res images and interview requests please contact Richard Bond at SKV PR. Tel 0161 236 9909 email: richard.bond@skvpr.co.uk.
Notes To Editors
The Art of White is a dazzling exploration of the use of white in art spanning 500 years which, across 80 works, illustrates how the colour is far from neutral. Especially curated for The Lowry by Clive Adams and Eddie Bowes, The Art Of White takes the viewer on a fascinating journey through an array of artworks that are all linked by a simple, yet powerful, creative factor.
Exhibition Details
The Art of White
12 November 2005 –17 April 2006
The Lowry, Pier 8, Salford Quays M50 3AZ
Information & Box Office Telephone 0870 787 5793
www.thelowry.com
Gallery Opening Times: Galleries open everyday 11am – 5pm (10am – 5pm on Saturdays)
Admission to the Galleries is FREE.
On arrival, visitors need an admission ticket from the Galleries Desk. We encourage donations to support the Galleries and the care of the LS Lowry Collection.
FREE FAMILY SUNDAYS, a series of fun family events, all free of charge, taking place between 11am and 3pm on the last Sunday of every month.
MEET MR LOWRY A 20-MINUTE FILM screened during opening hours
FREE TEN MINUTE TALKS at 12pm and 2pm every day about a picture on show
FREE GALLERY GUIDES are available from the gallery desk
Posted on Wednesday, 22 February 2006 under Press General Press