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Exploring food chains, microbes and decay through printmaking Photo: Shelley Burgoyne
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Delighted and proud to once again be co-ordinating the Change Project in Batley on behalf of the two lead organisations. It's a partnership between Mosaic (a small but long-standing community arts organisation) and Batley Girls' High School (with a strong reputation as a Visual Arts College), with 10 other local schools also involved.
There's a great story of long-term partnership working and of commitment to continuous improvement behind the project, which has been going for five years in its current guise and for several more before that. Last year the focus shifted away from visual arts learning for its own sake, with the decision to put a new emphasis on science and make the project specifically about supporting children's scientific learning through the visual arts. This year that particular bar has been raised several notches, with 'engineering', 'technology' and 'STEM' entering the project lexicon, and the involvement of prominent international engineering company, Cummins Turbo Technologies, as funder and practical supporter.
A series of 50 artist-led workshops got underway this month and already there are some priceless examples of children's learning, not to mention pure enjoyment. It's already apparent that investigating science topics through creative mediums will stimulate children's interest in science as an area of study, and inspire some to believe that it holds possibilities as a potential career (a big interest for Cummins). It's also evident that realising that science and art are connected disciplines, and that they can be explored together as complementary subjects, will be a powerful discovery for some children. The over-arching 'Change' theme has allowed for many interpretations over the years that the project has been running. This year 'changing perceptions' and 'change in aspirations' are definitely strong angles.
You can follow what artists Shelley Burgoyne, Tim Curtis and Craig Dyson and their eleven schools are up to on the project website, as they creatively explore science topics as varied as Forces, Food Chains, Electricity Circuits and Plant Lifecycles. As an appetiser, here's one of my fave quotes so far:
“Science is a very interesting subject, it can blow your mind and it can boggle your feet”
www.changeproject.co.uk
www.changeproject.co.uk
