Artist in Residence, Highbury Grove

Six-month artist in residency post at Highbury Grove Secondary School.

The aim of the project, which was funded by the arts council, was to spearhead a pioneering arts program with an art-school approach to secondary education. My role’s initiatives included skills development, exhibitions and events, community engagement and student tutoring. I was responsible for coordinating with visiting artists and lecturers, organising art related trips and the monitoring and evaluation of all events.

Workshops, artworks and events will be displayed below.

Selection of images taken from a drawing workshop using light and body restrictions to create work.

We used the schools lost property items to create a workshop that included, sculpture, big art, drawing and shoe painting.

Examples of some of the artworks for an arts cookery book created by the year 7’s.

This workshop base based on common sport games principles, the process of making at each of the station was to engage in an activity/game and make art in the process. The above includes get the ball in the paint, pastel hockey and paint ball volley.

This workshop was inspired by Fischli and Weiss, the group used scientific skills to create a balancing journey for a ball using old material found around school and in the wood workshop. The end result looked like a sculptural playground with endless potential.

The above are close up images from a selection of blind, music, continuous line drawing studies made throughout the six months. I enjoy using close up areas for investigation and to develop.

For this activity the group used newspapers, they were instructed not to read the article but to create their own stories using the imagery and photography. The stories were so imaginative and comical! Together they created this patch wok piece.

We used lino printing and made studies of modern and popular consumables for the teenagers.

We created an elections system, each group had to create their own party and the policy for their party. They had to design a logo and then in groups put forward their argument to win the most seats.

Click on the image above to watch a film made following the process of this workshop. The students filmed the footage and I edited the film.

This workshop was inspired the by the work of Rebecca Horn, the students created drawing machines as extensions to their body. They worked in small groups and between them had to create a large image with mediums using the machines they had designed.

I invited Jack Murray into school to deliver a graffiti art workshop. We have been working on a larger project creating artistic exchanges with a school in Etheopia. We decided to use tarpaulin to work on, as this can be sent to Africa easily and can be used for a purpose. The students thought about their own identity and created images and words to define themselves individually and as a group.

We invited David Brett a screen printer to deliver a workshops with the students, they were introduced to the process of screen printing, where and what it is used for and how he runs a business in it. They then got a chance to design their own t-shirts or bags and had these made for each of them.

I organised a trip to UAL Central Saint Martins, in Kings Cross with the sixth form group. We were able to meet a course leader and the group asked a series of questions about going to art school. We also looked around the Undergraduate show.

In Highbury fields painting log chairs for the primary children

We were offered the opportunity to work in Highbury Fields, there is a separate woodland area being developed by the local community with plans to create a storytelling area for local schools to use. We used this are of the park and the theme storytelling to plan and create an event in collaboration with Canonbury a local primary school.

The group spent months planning their event in Highbury Fields and creating a number of sculptures to be installed in the space for the event including; wishing wind chimes, block letters, posters, hanging jerry can worlds, wire insects, mini fairies, a fire, head bands and decorated cushions.

We invited 2 reception classes and the year 8 class lead the event and activities, they designed it to be a rotation station style. The children were escorted around the storytelling woodland space and given tasks and activities to complete.

I gave the year 7 and 8 group the task of creating an artwork with anything around them, they were given one word themes and had to create an artwork and then stand up in a crate situation in front of the class and talk about their artwork and how it relates to the theme. The example above was made in response to the theme ‘legacy’, the group used an old violin and scratched famous dead musicians names into it.

I set up an interactive installation in the school corridor. I used old paintings that were going to thrown away to create a free raffle for the teachers and chord children, I used a visualiser to create a shared painting activity and I asked students what they would want their art classes to be like and what art is all about, I used a post it anonymous system to do this.

Oscar Medley-Whitfield my brother and incredible furniture designer, designed and made a landscape exhibition space. Its modular design allows it to made not different forms and can be arranged in number of arrangements and for different environments. Students can be involved the curation and design of the spaces for mini exhibitions.

FILM- landscape Drawing- Big Draw event