Over the last number of weeks, the LGNI team have facilitated "Generating Art ideas" sessions across all three of our "REAP what you Sow through Art" projects, funded through the Arts Council of Northern Ireland's REAP Rural Engagement Arts Programme.
Each session saw LGNI staff introduce an arts facilitator to the intergenerational group, who helped them think about the type of art work they wanted to complete together.
Vicki from LGNI was at Saintfield High School on Tuesday 18th March, where together with Saintfield Men's Shed she facilitated the session with local artist Marketa B. Art Both young and old had expressed their interest in the art of 'Pyrography' which involves burning intricate designs and pictures onto wood. After exploring what art pieces could be created as part of the project, the group will now embark on 5 art sessions, working together to use pyrography to create take home and community art!
Later that week, LGNI’s Elaine delivered her session to the Sion Mills partnership on Friday 21st March. Together with local artist Leona Devine Ceramics the P7 pupils of Sion Mills IPS along with their grandparents and members of the Sion Mills Community Association, came together to discuss ideas and explore the use of different art materials. Leona specialises in ceramics and was able to show the group a variety of sample pieces to inspire them, before setting the task of creating their own miniature animals from air drying clay! The group also discussed the local area with knowledge from the older people bringing to light the meaning of the road name, that runs alongside both the school and community centre. The word “Seein” in the road name loosely translates in Irish to “fairy mound”. This mythical twist then inspired the groups project idea of creating a miniature village from ceramics. This will be displayed in the schools outdoor eco garden area, giving suitable lodgings for any local fairies that may want to inhabit the miniature dwellings! Aptly, the group have now christened their project as "Seein is Believing!"
Finally on Wednesday 26th March, LGNI's Joyce facilitated her session with members of Portaferry Community Services and pupils from Portaferry Integrated Primary School. After teaming the group up with local artist Davy Holden, they discussed and explored what mosaic is and how an art piece could be achieved using the relevant materials and methods. Davy was able to show them examples, explain the process and get the participants excited about how the final creations will look. These will be displayed in both the school and the local community, allowing everyone to enjoy the finished products! While reaching a final agreement on what they'd create, everyone enjoyed discussing local landmarks and discovering information they hadn’t previously known about their home town – young and old alike’.
For more details about this initiative, check out the project page here ‘Reap What You Sow Through Art’ Project – Linking Generations NI
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