External Projects

We also undertake collaborative projects outside the umbrella of the Art Club, or outside the school itself.  Working usually in pairs, we bring the skills and approach of the Art Club into different schools and areas.

For example, ‘Spoonrace’ was a hugely successful project run by Francesca Shakespeare, Doke Ostle and Michael Holyoke, for which they secured an Awards For All lottery grant of ten thousand pounds,  The project ran for a year and a half and involved 23 schools, community centres,  homes for the elderly, libraries, local festivals, hospitals and museums across the county, resulting in an arresting display of 1000 wooden spoon characters in the foyer of Modern Art Oxford in 2008. The installation also toured the county with exhibitions in local museums, arts centres and galleries, and for several months was at the then new JR Children’s Hospital. For more information see www.spoonrace.co.uk

My Eye Sees was led by Doke Ostle and Caroline Seymour in 2009 within SS Philip and James, and was funded by the County Council. Workshops were run in which every child in the school (over 360) made an eye, using a wide range of materials, which were all then attached to 3 x 1m2 panels made of woven recycled and dyed cloth and video tape, in the form of a giant eye. This piece in now on permanent display in the hall of the school.

The River Project is current and ongoing. All six artists are involved. It is funded by the Cherwell Partnership, a council funded partnership of primary schools and The Cherwell Secondary School .The project will comprise 21 workshops in 7 of the local primary schools and will produce a series of square panels which will eventually join together to form a river, with tributaries. The river Cherwell is one of the 2 rivers which run through the city of Oxford, and gives its name to the secondary school into which the primary schools all feed. The concept of the river and its tributaries is at the heart of the project and is a metaphor for the transition from primary to secondary school. It is also an opportunity for children to think about their own area, local environmental issues, and try out more experimental creative processes. Cherwell students from year 8 will assist the workshops and get to know the younger children. The installation will be on show at Art Jericho from 13th-16th July, with a family day involving everyone involved and St Barnabas school on Saturday 16th.