Children from Uplyme Primary School spent a day at the Museum, part of which was spent drawing and making notes in the Natural History galleries.

On May 10th one of the young people from The Grenville Unit, Jast, spent his first day in the Museum as part of a work experience programme. He worked with a number of staff on a variety of projects. Today he spent time helping to document part of the World Cultures collection and assisting in dismantling the Cavern Club's 'Year Zero' exhibition. On May 25th Jast spent another day in the Museum. Amongst other things he worked with staff from the World Cultures department where he is able to use his considerable knowledge of weapons and armour to assist in documentation.

Pupils and staff from Exwick Middle School took part in sessions at the Museum based on paintings of local rivers. All made in the 19th century - in common with most of the collection - these were a Turner watercolour of Buckfastleigh and the River Dart, John Gendall's view of Exeter's quayside and Francis Danby's dramatic painting of the mouth of the River Exe. The children were instructed to gather written and visual information to provide the basis for practical workshops led by Phil Mawdsley at the school in June. Among other things the children were able to compare the variety of methods, techniques and media of artists working during the same period. The sessions were designed to be cross-curricular with reference to, for example, Brunel's Atmospheric Railway - one of his few failures - which appears in Danby's painting.

You can see some of their work and comments about REALISE here.

On May 24th Realise assisted staff at the School in their final preparations for an open day on May 25th. This included hanging a painting loaned to the school, Thelma Hulbert's 'Green Shutters', and advice on mounting and displaying artwork made by the children. The Project Co-ordinator is grateful to technical staff at the Museum, Tony Docherty and Adam Grant, for their considerable input in creating Walter Daw's 'art gallery'.

You can see the preparations and some of the first show here.

May 23th and 24th 2000
Ladysmith Middle School Visit to the Museum

Children and teachers from Ladysmith Middle School, Exeter visited the Museum as part of their preparation for a field trip to Exmouth. This will be cross-curricular in scope and will include elements of Art, Geography and History. The children were able to look at artworks depicting Exmouth ranging from Francis Danby's 'Dead calm, sunset at the Bight of Exmouth' from 1855 to John Virtue's small untitled painting - one of a huge series - made in 1998. These were taken from storage especially for the session which allowed for more intimate access than might usually be the case. The groups were able to discuss a wide range of ideas and issues including the links between painters past and present, the difficult concept of 'abstract art' and the ways in which artists are able to create illusions of space and depth on a 2-dimensional support.

Phil Mawdsley has been invited to take part in the field trip and will document the day for the project diary.

On the 25th June 2000 Young people at The Atkinson Unit worked on mixed-media 'paintings' based on works from the Fine Art collection. This took place in the unit's art room and the finished artwork will be displayed at the Museum in an evolving exhibition during June/July 2000. A display of this work was setup in the Museum on May 30th and will run throughout the summer.

Jast - one of the young people from The Grenville Unit - spent a day in the Museum as part of his work experience programme. Amongst other things Jast is working with staff from the World Cultures department where he is able to use his considerable knowledge of weapons and armour to assist in documentation.

Email: contact@telematicscentre.co.uk