Artswork, Jelly, Reading Libraries and The Museum of English Rural Life help children in Reading work towards Arts Awards

Date Created: 27th Feb 2018

Since September 2017, Jelly artists have been working with Year 4 children at Oxford Road Community Primary School and Redlands Primary School to help them achieve Arts Award Explore.

The project has transformed the children into architects, researching, exploring and imagining how Reading was in the past and how it could look in the future. They have been looking at picture and maps of Reading in the ‘olden days’ in the Social History Department of Central Library. They have also been learning about architects such as Zaha Hadid, Antoni Gaudi and Thomas Heatherwick. Alongside this, they have been able to experiment with the techniques and structures that architects use and create, as well as playing with all kinds of collage, printmaking and model making! This project has been a collaboration between Jelly and Reading Libraries.

As well as remodelling Reading, we have been working on the landscape as well. Children from Alfred Sutton Primary, Katesgrove Primary and Redlands Primary have all been working towards their Discover Arts Award by looking at the work of Angie Lewin, a British printmaker, and learning about the countryside in conjunction with The Museum of English Rural Life.

The exhibition is a celebration of both of these projects and the creativity of 150 children from across Reading. Jelly would like to extend a huge thanks to all of the children, teachers, schools, artists and funders who have made this possible. Thank you also to Reading Libraries and The Museum of English Rural Life for their generous support. Both projects were made possible by support from Artswork, with additional funding for the Explore project from The Earley Charity.