Why Should Children Visit Art Galleries?

   Picture courtesy of Robert Wallace via Flickr 

I just love a visit to see an art gallery or an exhibition so on Saturday I went up to the Platform Gallery in Clitheroe to view a felt exhibition, Black Sheep:The Darker Side of Felt. It's not the first exhibition of felt work I've seen, in fact it was seeing and viewing felt art in the flesh that inspired me to learn felt making in the first place. 

It was by far the most 'alternative' felt work I've seen; from needle felted skeletons to felt interpretations of the 7 deadly sins, it was definitley a thought provoking body of work. As with any exhibition, there were pieces I loved, in particular an enormous wall hanging that reminded me of jelly fish. 

One aspect of the exhibition I particularly liked were the handling tables piled high with felted objects to pick up and feel - a fabulous idea as felt is a particularly tactile art form that I find I just want to touch and feel and I could see how children would be straight in there feeling everything (because that's exactly what I did!)

It got me thinking about taking children to art galleries to view exhibitions. Last year, artist Jake Chapman was quoted as saying that taking children to galleries was a 'total waste if time' (you can read the article from the BBC here). Is he right? No - I strongly believe he is not! 

One of his arguments is that children can't understand the art as well as adults. Really? There's a lot of artwork I'm not sure I understand BUT I can experience it, appreciate it and maybe even be inspired by it without understanding it and so to can children. 

As a teacher, I regularly share images of artists work with children. Back in March, I delivered a half day felt workshop inspired by Lowry to a Year 4 class. We began by looking at images of Lowry's work on the whiteboard and  identifying what we could see, what we liked, what we didn't like, how it made us feel and the children's responses were, at times,mind blowing. Their insights were fascinating and, after 10 years of teaching and delivering art lessons, I can tell you this is not a rare occurrence.  What would have made my session better would be if I'd been able to actually take the children to view Lowry's original work at The Lowry in Salford - imagine their insights if they could see it up close and personal and truly appreciate the work that had gone into it. For one, on the internet you really can't appreciate the size or texture created in a piece.

Taking children to view art work in the flesh is, I feel, an extremely important tool in art education in allowing children to experience & feel art and, most importantly, be inspired by it.

Welcome to Felt-Ed

I'm very excited to be blogging as Felt-Ed.  For my first post, I thought I'd tell you a little bit about me, Felt-Ed and what you can hope to find here on the blog and on my website 

Who is Felt-Ed?

 

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Felt-Ed is me, Sarah Jones, a textile artist specialising in felt making. I am also a qualified primary school teacher and have worked in nurseries, primary schools and within the community learning sector.  I completed my Level 1 City and Guilds in Creative Textiles, where I achieved a distinction, back in 2013, and have just completed my Level 3 Certificate in Feltmaking.  I'm looking forward to starting my next course in Textile Embellishment in September. 

What is Felt-Ed?

Felt-Ed is the place to go for resources, workshops and felt-making kits for children and the education sector. Here on the blog, you can expect to find interesting and informative articles about felt making and the teaching of art whilst over on my website, you'll find kits, lesson plans and other downloadable resources. Combining my love of felt making, with my knowledge and experience of teaching, I'm going to be sharing the fabulous art of felt making with everyone.

How did Felt-Ed begin? 

Felt-Ed started out as a part of The Gingerbread Bunny.  Back in June 2014, I worked with Lowton Junior and Infant School in Wigan on a large, felt wall hanging for their new entrance.  During the week long project, every child in the school was involved.  It was such an amazing experience and I knew, from that moment, that sharing felt making with as many children as I could was my mission.  

Over the following year, I worked in a further 7 schools in Wigan, Chorley, Bolton and Warrington - some for large scale projects, others for half day workshops as part of arts weeks - each was marvellous and we created some wonderful felt art based on gardens, flowers, the sea and even Lowry.  

I've decided to separate out my work with schools and the education sector so that I can continue to develop it into something exciting and informative.