Sue Lewry | Curriculum and Extended Opportunties | Art
Sue Lewry is a local artist who has community at the heart of her work. She has worked in support of Mayflower's drive to keep community together and collaborated as an ambassador of British Art Show 9. Despite fuel rise and pandemic challenges, Sue and Mayflower have proven that art can bring us together and positively.
"More of this have a go art please"
Mayflower Parent.
Our most recent projects have supported us here at Mayflower to challenge what art means to families. She has also explored what our motto, Together we can...' really means to staff, parents and pupils. This work is key for us as staff to better understand what our community wants and needs from our curriculum. A new perspective of how the arts can be applied in real terms as a mechanism for change and community connection.
A collaboration between British Art Show 9 Ambassador Sue Lewry | @MadeInMayflower
Art Event | Tuesday 22nd November at 3.30pm | Read our SWAY account here
We will come together in our main hall to work on an idea from British Art Festival around the theme of 'Tactics for Togetherness'.
Artist Sue Lewry will join us here at Mayflower to deliver on this project idea. Sue is working with us in her role as ‘Plymouth-based printmaker artist and British Art Show 9 Ambassador’. We are very fortunate to have Sue and her expertise onboard here at Mayflower. The plan is to take art into unusual places and use Sue's expertise in Screen Printing to explore what Mayflower's Together we can... ethos is all about. We will spend time mapping out ideas about anything to do with our school and then turn these ideas into slogans. To give you an idea of what our event might look like, there is a video posted below showcasing another Art Project with Sue.
All families are welcome to join us. We will have refreshments on hands via our FPTA Team too.
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Step 1
Please join us in the main hall, Tuesday 22nd November at 3.30pm to meet Sue, explore ideas and create your 'Together we can...' slogan.
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Step 2
Four slogans that represent the school's 'Together we can...' ethos will be chosen, and families will be invited to take their slogans to Ham Woods on Tuesday 13th December, during the day, to screen print with Sue Lewry. Everyone who takes part will have their own piece of screen print art to take away. Just outside our school gates will become our, 'Art in an unusual place'. This becomes part of British Art Festival's, 'Tactics for Togetherness' project.
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Step 3
Screen prints will be showcased as part of Sue and Mayflower's input to British Art Festival and people are encouraged to share their art digitally. This can be achieved by parents uploading images of their screen prints in their permanent location and hash-tagging #Whereisyourart and linking it to @MadeInMayflower Instagram.
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Mayflower believes in its, 'Together we can...' motto. So, What does this motto mean to you and how does it help us to learn more and learn better?
Step 1
Our timetable for Tuesday's 3.30pm art session...
1. Pose and answer the big questions
Mayflower believes in its, 'Together we can...' motto.
So, What does this motto mean to you?
How does it help us to learn more and learn better?
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2. Chat and scribble ideas
Discuss and note down your thoughts.
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3. Choose up to 4 words
Decide on the words that you feel best represent our Together we can... ethos.
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4. Cut strips and make your words as art slogans
Choose your colour paper and create your Together we can...slogan.
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5. Celebrate
Stand back and admire our collective thinking
We had a blast. Sue came to visit us at Mayflower and took part in our community 'Tactics for Togetherness' project. Families thought hard about how best to represent togetherness and Mayflower's 'Together we can'..., ethos. Now to decide on four slogans to go to print. Watch this space.
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Together we can...
Now onto Step 2
On Tuesday 13th December 2pm Sue Lewry and our Arty Staff will position themselves just outside our school gates (see below an image of the location) to take on Step 2 of our 'Tactics in Togetherness' Art project. They will be set up ready to screen print the slogans that parents made as part of Step 1.
If it rains, we will bring the screen printing inside our MAC Reception area. We would love to give as many families as possible a go at making their own screen printed art. Please join us anytime from 2pm - 4pm. There should be quite a buzz at the gate and give us a lovely end to the term.
Pupils will be invited to take part during the afternoon too. It should be a fun experience. There is no charge for taking part. The next slide shows a short video highlight detailing how the session will run. Sue shared her plans from her Alma Yard design studio.
We set up two stations for families to meet us and take part.
Station 1
Positioned just inside our reception welcome space. It was warm and the hot chocolates were flowing. Pupils had a go at printing slogans alongside some parents too. Mayflower has a vision for our reception welcome space to be used by our community as a space to learn new skills and take on new projects. This event helped us to make this vision come to life.
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Station 2
Positioned outside our main school gates. It was cold, and the paint was determined to dry too quickly. Parents and their children showed a real sense of togetherness as they listened to Sue and her Art Team. Some parents even led each other as they grew Ian confidence. Some families made sure that all members had a go. Children as young as three years old had a go as well as some brave and open-minded grandparents.
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We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who got involved. A huge thank you to Sue Lewry for choosing Mayflower to work with. There was a real synergy between Sue and Mayflower's ethos. Let's hope that we can do more together - very soon. One quote, from a parent, stood out for us and captured the vibe from the event.
"That was really fun. Can we do more of this type of thing? How cool to have art outside school for us to try together. I have never tried screen printing before. It has made my week to do this".
The final step. Onto Step 3
Step 3 is about enjoying the art that has collectively been created. Sue Lewry will display pieces as part of the Tactics for Togetherness British Art Show 9. Mayflower will display art pieces as part of its school presentations. Pupils, parents and staff will no doubt display their own screen printed slogans somewhere special. So...
#Whereisyourart now?
We would love to see where you have chosen to display your art. Maybe you gifted it to someone special? Perhaps it is pride of place in your home? Perhaps it is yet to be displayed and sits quietly on the fridge door or stuck to a mirror in the bathroom?
Email school.office@mayfloweracademy.co.uk, @MadeInMayflower Instgram hash-tagging #Whereisyourart, @Mayflower_MCA Tweet us or just simply tell us at the gate -where your art is now.