School Prints - Year 6
During the sixth year of The Hepworth Wakefield’s School Prints project we invited British artist duo Hannah Quinlan and Rosie Hastings to create a new print using the original School Prints brief: ‘I only ask that you create something suitable for children’.
The Hepworth worked with four local primary schools – Crofton Junior School, Sharlston Community School, Shay Lane Primary School and Walton Primary Academy to deliver an in-depth engagement programme based on the School Print.
School Prints is generously supported by the Eridge Trust and Stuart & Trish Fletcher.
Engagement project
“In all my years of teaching I’ve never experienced a project like this, it’s been wonderful!” Teacher, Shay Lane Primary School
This year’s project has engaged 173 pupils during 20 workshops and events. Pupils worked with artist Rachel Sim during printmaking workshops in school, visits to the gallery and celebration events for each school community.
Printmaking workshops in school: During creative workshops in school, pupils were introduced to this year’s School Print, Angelus Novus. Pupils explored collage-making using archival images of their local area and printmaking techniques inspired by the structure and patterns of feathers.
Gallery visits: During visits to The Hepworth Wakefield, pupils explored Barbara Hepworth’s Winged Figure and drew connections with the motif of angels in Angelus Novus. They expanded their printmaking skills, creating large-scale monoprints inspired by wings.
Celebration events: In a series of community celebration events, the participating schools were presented with their School Print, alongside ‘creativity kits’ for pupils to continue their artistic journeys at home. The events also included celebratory exhibitions of all the pupils’ artwork and family printmaking activities.
“The sense of pride in our school community was magical. The amount of parents who were in awe at the exhibition was just a testament to how hard everyone had worked.” Crofton Juniors School
“The Hepworth was absolutely amazing, there was loads of incredible artworks and we also got to learn about Barbara Hepworth, which was really awesome because I like learning a lot about history and I love art.” Pupil, Crofton Junior School
“I really enjoyed the monoprinting because it was fun and satisfying and the results looked awesome!” Pupil, Walton Primary Academy
“I enjoyed everything, especially the sketching, because I could express my arty designs and desires” Pupil, Crofton Junior School
Legacy: A selection of the pupils’ artwork and photos from the project have been displayed in the gallery over the summer. Pupils and their families have been welcomed back to The Hepworth Wakefield for special family days ahead of the summer holidays. Schools have also been offered continuous professional development (CPD) to support their explorations of contemporary art in the classroom.
