Arts Council Collection works on loan to Newlyn School

OCT 2019 – OCT 2020

Newlyn School pupils chose ten works from the Arts Council Collection, which includes over 8,000 works of British art in a range of media. The majority of these were acquired from young and emerging UK-based artists over the past 70 years.

In response to the growing crisis in arts education in schools, we investigated what action we could take to support creativity as part of every young person’s education. This led us to develop an ongoing conversation with primary and secondary schools in the locality, opening with the question ‘How can we help you?’

Newlyn School, whose pupils are regular visitors to Newlyn Art Gallery, asked if we could support the delivery of basic art skills within their curriculum.

“We felt an exciting way to do this would be through our partnership with Arts Council Collection, in the form of a loan of works to the school for a whole year. We worked with a Year Five class who chose the nine works they felt would inspire the school community. Their choices were thoughtful and at times provoked passionate discussion, which they agreed would be interesting to continue during their stewardship of the works,” says Cat Gibbard, Programme Curator / Learning Lead.

In June 2020 Newlyn School will lend the works to us, helping to create a Palace of Culture, and transforming Newlyn Art Gallery into an inspirational setting for three weeks of intense, art-based activity, programmed by artists – or Cultural Secretaries – as directed by the children. The nine works chosen by the children will be a key visual element of Palace of Culture. Once the doors of the Palace have shut, and the works return to Newlyn School, the school will retain some of the magic of the Palace, inspiring staff and children to continue their artistic investigations.

Jill Constantine, Director, Arts Council Collection  said:
“The Arts Council Collection has worked for a long time to increase access to the Collection via the classroom. This innovative idea, whereby the school becomes the temporary owners of the artworks and then lends them back to Newlyn Art  Gallery reflects our founding principles – that the Arts Council Collection truly belongs to everyone.”

Nine works chosen from the Arts Council Collection are at Newlyn School

Paintings
The Kestrel by David Woodford
Christmas Tree by Willian Gear
Bathing by Stass Paraskos
Oving Footpath by Paul Millichip
The Shore by Norman Adams
People and Water by Clive Hodgson

Sculptures
Cock by Bernard Meadows
Head with Blue Rabbit by Alan Grimwood
Cat by Robert E Clatworthy

The tenth work chosen by the pupils, Hyde Park by Julyan Trevelyan, will only be part of Palace of Culture, which will be at Newlyn Art Gallery, 14 Jun – 30 Jul 2021.

Newlyn Art Gallery & The Exchange is an Arts Council Collection National Partner. The Arts Council Collection is managed by Southbank Centre, London on behalf of Arts Council England.

Find out more about the Arts Council Collection National Partners Programme.