dot-art Schools at the Walker Art Gallery
dot-art Schools 2014 winners with Lord Mayor Gary Miller
With a week left to catch the fabulous artwork of local school children in the dot-art Schools exhibition, coordinator Beth Harvey gives us some background to the project:
The dot-art Schools programme began in 2012 with a pilot project which saw 19 schools take part. Since then, the programme has more than doubled in size and has allowed 150 students to have their work displayed in the prestigious Walker Art Gallery. Each school was asked to submit up to 25 works of art from their year 6 or year 9 classes by Christmas 2013. There was no brief set, so it was interesting to see the various themes that emerged. A few schools took different approaches to portraiture, looking at different ways of representing themselves and portraying their personality. There is also some some excellent still life work, looking at composition, line and form. A number of students responded to a visit to a gallery or a trip somewhere as seen in the image below by Thomas Goggin who had previously visited the Walker and had been inspired by 'The Ruins of Holyrood Chapel' by Louis Jacques-Mandé Daguerre.
Thomas Goggin's artwork inspired by Daguerre's famous painting at the Walker.
We are so pleased to be able to offer the opportunity for Liverpool City Region pupils to display their artwork on the walls of the prestigious Walker Art Gallery, alongside the likes of Rubens and Rembrandt. The programme has allowed us to celebrate art in schools and to recognise the talents of the students.
The winners of the competition were as follows:
'Heat' by Lottie Hulse, Year 9
Winner Secondary:
'Heat' by Lottie Hulse - St Hildas
Runners up Secondary:
'Hang Man' by Erin Ball - Holly Lodge Girls College
'The Room at the End of the Hall' by Leigha Slevin - St Augustine of Canterbury
'Self-portrait' by Daniel Canning, Year 6
Winner Primary:
'Self Portrait by Daniel Canning' - Christian Fellowship School
Runners up Primary:
'Dream Fly' by Till Rogan - Arnot St Marys
'The Iron Man at Sea' by Holly A - St Michael and All Angels Primary School
'The Last of the Tribal Men' by Kirsty Vidamour
Highly commended:
'The Last of the Tribal Men' by Kirsty Vidamour - Range High School
We've been delighted with the response to the exhibition so far with some well known professional artists lending their support:
I would like to congratulate everyone who took part in the competition, I had a very difficult time choosing the winners. This competition inspires students to think about art and design as a career option, and it's great to see such a variety of art and design in schools using adventurous materials. This is a brilliant opportunity for students to exhibit in the Walker Art Gallery so early in their career.
The standard was very high and I really enjoyed looking at so much diverse art work. Congratulations to all the staff and their students.
A big well done to everyone involved in this competition. One day we will come to our senses and realise you can be a great scientist and a great artist, or a great chemist as well as a great writer (see Primo Levi). Art in schools empowers our young people and is the one subject where not only do the kids have all the right answers but they come up a whole load of new questions.
Still life and composition studies by dot-art students.