The p4 pupils of Inverkeithing Primary School took part in an art project based on their own experiences of living in the town. The children were asked to have a think about their everyday surroundings and get drawing, resulting in these wonderfully vivid and exciting 3 dimensional street scenes.
The pupils worked with the volunteers of Art Club Inverkeithing after artist Rosie Gibson asked if they’d like to help her with one of the pieces for her forthcoming Trading Wisdom art project, taking place in Inverkeithing from 10th-17th October. With the collaboration of the teachers, headteacher and depute head, the p4 pupils took part in the whole-day map project, resulting in two fantastic 3 dimensional maps of the centre of Inverkeithing. These works are now being interpreted into one of the exhibits for Trading Wisdom (details to follow soon!).
For inspiration for this project, the children were shown one of Rosie’s Nuggets of Wisdom, collected from the local generation born between 1925 and 1935:
“My mother’s hoose was like a canteen. We went hame fae the mill for breakfast, lunch, then hame for the tea! And my brothers were on different shifts so they went hame at different times tae!”
The children were invited to respond to this quote, and were shown a short presentation about the history of Caldwell’s Mill, which was demolished in 2012. They imagined Grace, whose quote it was, as a young woman, making her way home from the Mill to her mother’s hoose. Would she have seen the same things on her walk which the children see today?
We were very impressed by how much the pupils took to this project. They were very interested and engaged – showing us just how naturally they feel that their town belongs to them. They were sincerely excited about the idea of representing their daily surroundings through art, getting down to several hours of drawing without complaint. I think we can all agree they re-created their environment in the most colourful and imaginative way. And, for the volunteers of Art Club Inverkeithing, the children were a delight to spend a day with!
Well done the p4 pupils at Inverkeithing Primary School, and many thanks to the teachers and management for being so patient and accommodating.
As well as being a part of Rosie’s Trading Wisdom project, the maps will continue to be proudly displayed at Inverkeithing Primary School.
inverkeithingarts.org 