400 Students Across London to Exhibit Artwork in Grand Finale of the Jack Petchey Start Programme, June 27

By: Christina Mancuso May. 12, 2016

Students from nine different schools across three London boroughs are preparing to exhibit the artworks they have been working on throughout this academic year, as part of the Jack Petchey Start Programme. The Jack Petchey Start Programme is in its second year and brings together 400 students from secondary schools in outer London suburbs. Students work with practicing artists for an entire year, taking part in multiple visits to the Saatchi Gallery, listening to Saatchi Gallery exhibiting artists talk about their work and engaging in creative workshops at the Gallery and in school.

The theme for this year's project is Transformation and focuses on large scale public art. Students have worked with the project artists to create artworks relating to this theme which span sculpture, painting, installation, performance and public engagement workshops.

Each school has half a day in Gillett Square, Dalston, in which to exhibit their final project to the public. Artworks/activities will range from: a miniature sculpture exhibition, a public photo-booth, an interactive mural, giant games, a play, public service stalls and inflatable sculpture-making, to name but a few.

The project is lead by Rozenn Logan, head of education, Saatchi Gallery and lead artist Jack Brown. The four project artists are Ella Mary, Ella Medley-Whitfield, Maru Rojas and Charlotte Young. All of our artists have worked extensively with a wide range of young people in schools, museums, galleries and community projects. Each artist has their own practice which spans drawing, sculpture, painting, film and performance.

"It has been amazing to see students taking hold of the ideas and concepts set out at the start of the project. Each school has been updating their own page on a shared project blog and the range and diversity of responses is really exciting. The artists have been able to bring aspects of their own practice into the classroom, allowing students to explore contemporary ways of working such as installation, performance and video. I have also led two CPD sessions for artists and teachers to share expertise, think about how they will work together and try out new inventive ways of documenting students' work. At the end of our first CPD session we made our own piece of public art, a giant banner unfurled outside of Edmonton Green station, it read 'Art is powerful, ignore it at your peril!' -quite apt I think" Jack Brown, lead artist.

Gemma Dunbar, head of project grants at the Jack Petchey Foundation is delighted with the progress of the project; "It is so wonderful to see how the students transform from their first visit to the Gallery, and how inspired they are to have the opportunity to meet and learn from professional artists. Seeing their own work in lights at the end of the project is a well deserved - and hard earned - treat and we at the Foundation are incredibly proud of all the young people involved."

The participating schools are:

Aylands School, Enfield
Aylward Academy, Enfield
Brittons Academy, Havering
Broomfield School, Enfield
Edmonton County School, Enfield
Heartlands High School, Haringey
Southgate School, Enfield
St Anne's Catholic High School, Enfield
St Ignatius College, Enfield

Schedule

Monday 27th June
11am-12:30pm: Broomfield School
12:30pm- 2:00pm: Southgate School

Tuesday 28th June
11am-12:30pm: Heartlands High School
12:30pm- 2:00pm: St Ignatius

Wednesday 29th June
11am-12:30pm: Brittons Academy Group 1
12:30pm- 2:00pm: Edmonton County School

Thursday 30th June
11am-12:30pm: St Anne's Catholic High School
12:30pm- 2:00pm: Aylward Academy

Friday 1st July
11am-12:30pm: Brittons Academy Group 2
12:30pm-2:00pm: Aylands School

We are working with local community groups who will be participating in the schools' activities throughout the week.

The Jack Petchey Start Programme

The Jack Petchey Start Programme, supported by Children & the Arts, is part of the Saatchi Gallery's Education Programme, which is committed to introducing contemporary art to younger audiences.

The broad aim of the project is to introduce high quality contemporary art to students in a way that is inspiring, engaging and challenging. The programme aims to equip students with the tools they need to explore art exhibitions, so that they may feel confident in visiting galleries. Students are exposed to the workings and processes of practicing artists through direct contact with professional artists and educators. The programme aims to give teachers a gratifying experience where new ideas can be tested and, if appropriate, be influential on their teaching.

Teachers are given support in the form of Continued Professional Development workshops (CPD) throughout the year. These workshops focus on building skills such as: art blogging, documenting arts projects, public art, new thinking tools for curriculum topics and large sculpture.

Students visited Saatchi Gallery exhibitions UK/raine, Thailand Eye and Champagne Life. In November students took part in Gallery tours and practical workshops with the project artists. Students returned to the Gallery in January to hear Champagne Life exhibiting artists Alice Anderson, Virgile Ittah and Stephanie Quayle talk about their work. This involved a Q&A with the artists, followed by cross-school feedback and presentations on the artists' work. In March, April and May the project artists went into the schools to continue working towards the final project.

Throughout the project the artists have been collecting video footage and sound bites to document the project. On July 15th there will be a celebration evening and screening of the project films at the Dugdale Centre, Enfield, from 6:00pm-8:00pm. This is an opportunity for students, teachers and families to celebrate the students' achievements.

For further information on the programme please visit the blog: jpstart2016.wordpress.com

The Jack Petchey Foundation

1. Sir Jack founded the Jack Petchey Foundation in 1999 to recognise the positive contributions young people make to society and to support them in achieving their potential. Since then it has provided support to a wide range of 2,000 initiatives supporting young people across London and Essex and has reached a milestone investing £100m.

2. Our major programme, the Achievement Awards is a peer recognition scheme and includes grass roots youth clubs, youth organisations, secondary schools and uniformed organisations throughout London and Essex. Nominations are made by young people as well as teachers, parents and supporting adults. The young award winners choose how best to spend their award money to the benefit of their club or school. From 2016 we are increasing the award money so new winners will now receive £250.

3. The Jack Petchey Foundation also funds other programmes that celebrate positive contributions of young people in society. "Speak Out" is the world's largest public speaking competition for young people.

4. "Step into Dance" provides opportunities for dance in over 150 schools.

5. The individual grants for the Volunteers Fund supports young people who are giving up their time for the benefit of another community.

6. To find out more about our work and the range of projects we support go to www.jackpetcheyfoundation.org.uk. Follow JPF on Facebook www.facebook.com/JackPetcheyFoundation and Twitter @JPFoundation.

Children & the Arts

Children & the Arts was founded by HRH The Prince of Wales with the fundamental belief that every child has the right to be inspired by the arts. The charity's UK wide arts engagement programmes work with deprived children from areas of social and economic disadvantage and builds partnerships between their schools and local high quality cultural venues.

The charity takes children on a journey into their local arts venue and unlocks the arts for those who need to be inspired by them the most, raising children's self-esteem and confidence, and nurturing their communication skills. Through the work of Children & the Arts, children learn that cultural venues are welcoming, accessible places to visit and since 2006 Children & the Arts has introduced over 300,000 children to life-changing arts experiences.

www.childrenandarts.org.uk

Gillett Square

Gillett Square is a public space in the heart of Dalston, East London. A large, uncluttered space with the potential to become something specific - or remain not really anything at all. A blank canvas for a community to paint differently, every day.

Physically, the square is a quiet, off road yet near the town centre, granite open space flanked by jazz bars, cafes, food outlets and a host of other interesting entrepreneurs. Culturally, the square is people - people from an astonishing range of ages, socio-economic and ethnic backgrounds & beliefs, all sharing the space with each other, to work and to play.

We run Gillett Square as a unique community-led space where an incredibly diverse range of people can meet on common ground. Hackney Co-operative Developments leads this work with many partners to ensure that Gillett Square fulfils its role as a community asset; providing a programme of community and cultural activities which play a key role in the social cohesion of an area subject to rapid change, at the same time retaining its diversity and showcasing its creativity.

A place to walk through; a place to sit; a place to share; a place to meet; a place to see, hear, feel, smell, taste and discover wonderful and incredible things.

www.gillettsquare.org.uk

Saatchi Gallery

The Saatchi Gallery was founded in 1985 by Charles Saatchi to provide a platform to bring contemporary art to as wide an audience as possible and make it accessible. Over the last five years the Saatchi Gallery has hosted 17 out of the top 20 most visited exhibitions in London, according to The Art Newspaper's survey of international museum attendance, and is also ranked amongst the world's top five most liked museums on Facebook and Twitter by Museum Analytics. Entry to all exhibitions at the Saatchi Gallery is free.

The Saatchi Gallery is specifically geared towards introducing a younger audience of art students and enthusiasts to work at the cutting edge of contemporary art. The facilities - at the Gallery, via the website and the Gallery classroom for schools - endeavour to ensure that teachers receive the best on-site and outreach support possible for their students.

Our free Schools Programme welcomes over 2000 schools to the Saatchi Gallery annually and in 2015 provided over 450 free workshops for schools. Alongside this, the Saatchi Gallery runs several outreach initiatives, regular Teachers Evenings and offers free after-school art clubs to schools. The Saatchi Gallery/ Deutsche Bank Art Prize for Schools is an international art prize for students aged 4-18 years and aims to support and encourage budding young artists by providing them with a platform to showcase their work, and giving them the confidence to continue studying art and to consider a creative career.

www.saatchigallery.com

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