Josef Herman Schools Award 2014 Exhibition

The Josef Herman Schools Award is an annual project hosted by the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru which employs different artists each year to work with four South Wales primary schools. This year the Foundation is working with the Tate on a two-year project called Mining Josef Herman; part of a Transforming Tate Britain: Archives and Access programme.

The children enjoyed a promenade performance by Lighthouse Theatre followed by a series of drawing workshops with me in school and in Ystradgynlais, where Herman lived for 11 years. We worked with iPads and traditional drawing materials.

The children researched selected works by Herman provided by the Tate Gallery, London, and made presentations which were recorded on iPads. The exhibition features a selection of their drawing on paper and two TV screens showing both their presentations and animations of the iPad drawings they produced. The exhibition is at The Welfare in Ystradgynlais and will continue until mid September.

Josef Herman schools award exhibition

Josef Herman schools award exhibition

Josef Herman schools award exhibition

Josef Herman schools award exhibition

Josef Herman schools award exhibition

Josef Herman project logos

Josef Herman Schools Award Project 2014

Art education is wide ranging and there are many different approaches to it, but at its core is learning to see. The primary and most effective way to learn to see is to draw. This, surely, must be at the beginning of every artist’s career – i.e. the moment, as children, we pick up a pencil, crayon, brush and make a mark with it.

Last week I was working with the Josef Herman Art Foundation Cymru on their 2014 Schools Award project. Following a tour of Ystradgynlais with Josef (1911 – 2000) played by actor Adrian Metcalfe and the “Clerk to the District Council” played by Sonia Beck, both from Lighthouse Theatre in Swansea, we ran workshops in drawing. We viewed the Foundation’s collection of Herman’s works in “The Welfare” and referenced a set of images provided by the Tate Museum for our drawing. We used both traditional drawing materials (pencil and charcoal on paper) and iPads. Sketchbook Pro has the facility to record the drawing you do on the iPad and you can see a couple of examples from the children at the bottom of this post.

Sonia invited us all back to the year 1954 when Josef Herman lived and worked in Ystradgynlais (for 11 years). She and Adrian did an excellent job of drawing us into believing that they were the real people which confused some of the children as they knew that he had died in 2000!

Adrian Metcalf as Josef Herman

Adrian Metcalf and Sonja Beck

Ystradgynlais

Looking Josef Herman artworks

Drawing workshop

Beautiful Journeys

I have been travelling about Wales recently – not too far from home but thoroughly enjoyable. The trips I have had to schools as the Josef Herman Foundation Award Artist for 2012, have taken me over the Beacons to Brecon as well as to Ystradgynlais and back over the hills to home where the Spring / Summer sounds of a Blackbird in Coedbach Park are a welcome end to the day. You’ll need to visit the blog to listen to the Blackbird.

Brecon Beacons

Up on the Brecon Beacons

Brecon Beacons

Looking across the Brecon Beacons

River Tawe at Ystradgynlais

River Tawe at Ystradgynlais

Overlooking Craig Cefn Parc

Overlooking Craig Cefn Parc

The Josef Herman Foundation has allowed 9 and 10 year old children to create a version of StillWalks. Through an Arts Council of Wales funded project initiated by Caron McColl and Lynne Bebb at Swansea Education Effectiveness Service, the children have been doing their own photography and sound recording for their walk as well as the post production and also poetry with Emily Hinshelwood.

Screening and Exhibition – there will be a celebratory screening and exhibition in the Autumn of the work produced by the children. The children are doing a great job, so watch here later in the year to see examples of their videos and other work.