Drawing in the Dark

Black Country (BCCSIP)

Croft Community Primary in Walsall have been focusing on speaking, listening and writing skills as part of their Change School journey. Visual art has proven to be a successful tool to support and expand these skills. Last year, the school organised a 'Big Draw' event, where all staff explored pushing art in primary settings beyond it's normal expectations. Following this event, they embarked on a successful second year of the Change School programme, building a strong community of learners. In the spring it was announced that the school would be rebuilt and so after the summer, pupils came back to learn in mobile class rooms.

The school had planned another 'Big Draw' event for the autumn, but soon recognised that it would be difficult to realise in the circumstances. Staff felt that they needed a spectacular celebration to bring the school and community together during this period of transition and appointed the team from John Bell Event Design to work with staff and pupils. After much planning and reflection, everyone agreed on an event-idea called 'Night Draw'.

Project objectives

The initial idea of the event was to base drawing and writing activities around the idea of 'the school at night'. Since the building was already undergoing heavy refurbishment, the event was designed to temporarily transform the space around the school. Working with every year-group in the school, staff aimed to connect creative writing with visual art and use the backdrop of the night to tell imaginative stories visually. This was particularly important as many parents have a limited grasp of English and can’t easily access the children’s work.

Who was involved?

An important objective for the project was to attract local families and help to increase the bond between the school and the community. Food, fireworks, face painting and performers were all arranged to create a big attraction. Specially printed invitations cards were delivered to local households and taken home by children in the run-up to the event.

Impact

Over a series of workshops in classrooms, staff introduced several techniques to 'make' things which were new to the pupils and would help produce outcomes taking advantage of the darkness. Lantern-making, shadow puppetry and long-exposure photography were the main techniques and these were supported by more traditional drawing and conceptual skills already developed at the school. Each class worked on their individual project, taking ideas from the practitioner session and developing these in their own time. The space around the school was divided up and turned into an exhibition space, dedicated to the artwork of each year-group. Taking advantage of the school’s architecture, work was installed and illuminated with a combination of floodlights, glow-sticks and LEDs.

A large projection screen was set up to show the shadow plays performed by some of the pupils. The plays were pre-recorded rather than performed live, so that the children were free to enjoy the evening with their families, without the pressure of having to perform in public. The school also offered workshops for visitors to make shadow puppets and lanterns which proved very successful.

'Night Draw' attracted a very large turnout and was a real success. Despite heavy rain, the lights and artwork were all put in place during the day. Visitors enjoyed music, food, fire-dancers and a fireworks display against a backdrop of visual stories that lit up the darkness with colour. It was an ambitious project that demanded the entire school, pupils, staff and practitioners alike to pull together and work very hard. It would not have been possible without their total dedication and effort.

Results

The event was a great success in many different ways. Staff were all surprised and excited by the number of visitors and the positive feedback they got. The event also made staff and pupils come together as a school and they are now looking forward to engaging in spring and summer projects.