Each month, over 460 people who care about children and artists who work with them will see our newsletter. It`s a great chance to promote your projects. When you add a project, it gets seen on the "recent projects" list. We encourage Practice.ie members to login and add a project.
Last month, we saw that one of the most popular links on our newsletter was Creative Classrooms. We called Carline, and asked her to post some more information about her project on the project blog.
Creative Classrooms is a new development in the Dun Laoghaire Rathdown County Council Artists-in-Schools programme. Each year DLR Arts Office places a call for an artists panel. This call is open to all artists at any stage in their career. A panel of interested schools is also formed and artists are matched with schools to work with one class and it`s teacher for one school year. This year there are 10-12 artists on the program, most of whom have just completed their residency. Carline Lynch is in the final few days of the project at her school.
While the program originally worked toward an exhibition of work, it has now become focused on the process and the relationship between artists, teacher and children. The artists are asked not to have a set plan at the outset but to include the children and the teacher in the planning and development of ideas. Training is arranged for the teachers before the project begins and it is hoped that they continue to learn skills throughout the year that assist them in their future work.
Carline ensures this collaborative organic development happens by asking the opinions of the children throughout and listening to their responses and suggestions and having regular meetings with the teacher. Half way through the project she recorded conversations with the children where she asked them what they had enjoyed, what they would like to have done and how they feel about art.
The theme of nature arose organically given the schools proximity to the local park and that on the first day of her arrival, the school was planting a tree on the grounds. As the project developed Carline share the work with various land artists with the children. Each week they would work through ideas and then talk about the next session. While they began with drawing, where Carline`s practice is rooted, they embarked on trips to the park, building with natural materials, discovering natural dyes. Having a non-negative impact on the environment through their work became a focus. In their final meeting they will be making work on the beach in response to some of the land art they have seen and discussed.
For Carline, the most interesting aspect of this project is the how the work develops and the exciting challenge of continuously researching and experimenting new materials, keeping the project fresh for everyone involved. Carline finds most of what she needs to learn can be found on the internet and then brought to the classroom. She tries to let the children input into and push the project as much as possible.
In this way, Carline feels the project is an exploration of themes through art, an investigation and communication and that cognitive tools are built through the conversations that arise. The Creative Classrooms project views art as a way of thinking.
Carline has been evaluating her work through voice-recorded responses to questions she has written, through photographs and through written notes after each session. She can also tell when the class is engaged in the process and the project by the level of concentrated working and lack of noise in the room! The panel of artists also meet regularly to tell each other about their work.
For more information on the Creative Classrooms programme, visit the DLR website
Have look at Carline`s profile for more insight into her project.
