Children’s Art Week begins today so we’ve seized the opportunity to showcase some of our students’ amazing creations. Covering everything from pencil sketches and spray-paint murals, to photography and sculptures, this online gallery highlights their amazing array of talent!
Art is a particularly important part of the Red Balloon curriculum, as Sarah Deboys, Assistant Coordinator at Red Balloon Cambridge, explains:
“Many students have trouble expressing their emotions, especially those who have had to ‘shut them down’ because of the trauma they’ve experienced and the anger they feel. Anything creative is a brilliant way of unlocking those emotions and expressing themselves, particularly for those who have trouble expressing themselves verbally. Art gives a window into their emotions – unlocking what they may have been hiding away for some time.
“Having art on the curriculum can be a release for students struggling to take on more challenging subjects. They may not be confident with Maths or English, for example, but Art is something they can be good at, and which they can find relaxing and therapeutic.
“Collaborative artwork is really important too. Working together on a creation can be a challenge; it teaches children co-operation and compromise. Also the more experienced students have the opportunity to teach the less experienced; one gains confidence from the teaching while the other learns from their skills and knowledge.”
“If I could say it in words there would be no reason to paint.” ~ Edward Hopper
For some students, Art can help push personal boundaries, as Sarah Clarke, Link Professional at Red Balloon of the Air explains:
“To help Eden to leave the house, we painted some rocks and then went to a local park to hide them for children to find and enjoy. The monster is called Fred!”
“Art is something that makes you breathe with a different kind of happiness.” ~ Anni Albers
Art Lead, Eduardo Ramos, describes some of the recent art activities taking place at Red Balloon Reading:
“Red Balloon Reading has been working together with an artist practitioner delivering project-based learning. The students started to understand the principles of photography and creating cyanotypes, a photographic printing process that produces a cyan-blue print of their initials.
“Peter Sauvage, a photographic guest artist, brings for each session a different project that includes taking photographs of personal objects that have a meaning for the students. They’ve also created a curiosity box with their initials (cyanotypes), together with photographs of words that best describe them as individuals.”
Many of the Red Balloon Reading images were also included in the Independent Schools Association’s online gallery. The submissions were made to the ‘Freedom Art Gallery’ designed to show how art can be used as a positive method of viewing these difficult times. You can see it here.
