Art is a very much loved subject here at DKH and this is evident as soon as you enter the school grounds with artwork displayed in the playgrounds and throughout the school building. Art topics are explored all through the school year but are particularly studied during our annual Arts’ Week and Arts’ Evening in June.
Art, craft and design embody some of the highest forms of human creativity. Our art and design curriculum aims to engage, inspire and challenge children, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to experiment, invent and create their own works of art, craft and design.
Once again, much of our art and design links to termly topic themes whether it be sketching then creating poppies linked to WWII, pottery linked to the Stone Age or making Viking boats to sail on the Thames. Living so close to Dulwich Picture Gallery and the many museums in London, we take every opportunity to make the most of our locality.
June 2020- The Drawing Room
Drawing Room has delivered an ambitious international programme of solo and group exhibitions that have included established, emerging and historical artists. Many of these exhibitions have toured to galleries and museums throughout the UK and beyond.
During Lockdown they provided schools and families, weekly drawing ideas. The ideas shared by The Drawing Room have been used during school time and DKH pupils have produced some wonderful art work.
The Dot – A Whole School Display
To make a start on our Artsmark journey, each pupil in the school created a dot. Each year group had a focus colour and the children, guided by their teacher, started with their dot and let the dot guide them into a creative space.
The Dot by Peter Reynolds – a picture book about a girl who thinks she is not creative, but with encouragement learns about herself – draw a dot and see where it takes you.
This book allows children to think creatively and how their own words of positivity and praise can have an impact on others.
June 2020- Year One – Goldilocks and Bears
Year One children created some wonderful Goldilocks pictures. They explored light and shadows and gave a 3d dimension to their creations. Previously, they had explored texture with wonderful bear portraits. They used oil pastels to create and eye-catching artwork.
Dog Kennel Hill Library Tree Project
About the artist:
We worked with Bow Arts ( a charitable arts organisation). Charlie Damigos was the artist who worked with us. Here are a few words from her and her reflections on the project. Originally from a theatre background, I work across many art and design disciplines especially enjoying collaborating with children and young people. My practice spans set design, textiles and 3D commissions as well as delivering smaller scale workshops in schools and creative institutions. I am always inspired by working with unusual materials in imaginative and surprising ways. You can see my work at www.charliedamigos.com. I really enjoyed working on this project at Dog Kennel Hill Primary School especially involving the Year 4 and 5 children in the design process and seeing their fantastic ideas for creating a tree in their library. I also loved how no leaf was the same, each child wove a completely unique design, and so the resulting tree became a diverse collection of their personalities and self-expression!
The Planning Process:
The project started with Charlie introducing the children to the idea. The children had two areas to explore. Why is recycling important and how can we use it to create art? Two areas of particular concern were identified; the over use of plastic and throw-away culture associated with clothes and fabrics. They had a wealth of ideas some practical -some not on a library tree installation using recyclable materials.
The planning progress gives the pupils a chance to share ideas and consider their choices. It was agreed that metal leaves would be used and covered with recycled fabrics and old plastic bags. Using their sketchbooks, children explored shape, form and patterns on leaves. Then they also drew plans for the “library tree”. After, they explored the materials they would be using.
Creating the leaves:
Now it was time to create the leaves. The children gathered their resources. First, they used plastic bags but they proved to be tricky to manipulate and weave onto the nets. So most of the leaves were completed using fabrics. All of the classes worked in small groups with Charlie. The new appointed Art Ambassadors also had a session with the artist too. Children were then given the opportunity to evaluate their work.
Installation of the Sculpture:
Now it was time to install the tree. Charlie and a technician spent the day installing the tree. Out timing was lucky, it was competed during the week before the school closure due to Covid-19.
