People and places: the changing faces of the Old Royal Naval College
One of London’s greatest buildings inspired Amethyst Class at Wingfield Primary School in Greenwich to design a collaborative artwork, distilling their experience of one amazing place to contribute to the development of another.
Teacher Rachel Vikentiou was interested in how art can change or improve an ‘ugly’ place. Jo Hall from The Greenwich Foundation was looking for a group of pupils to design a new artwork inspired by the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich. So together they developed a cross-curricular project that would increase student:
- learning enjoyment
- observation skills
- sense of responsibility for the world around them
- confidence and presentation skills
Inspiring beauty
The Old Royal Naval College has been used for many different purposes over the years. As the occupants of the space have changed, so has the purpose. Most tried to make the buildings more beautiful. With this in mind the Wingfield pupils set about exploring the site, using sketching, story-telling and treasure hunts to unpack the rich histories bound up in the buildings themselves.
Their first task was to understand the buildings. What did these places mean to the people who lived and worked there? Why did they care so much about the way they looked? How could the pupils’ findings influence their own local area and the way that it looks? In school, the work spanned subjects including history, art and design, geography, maths and science.
During visits to the site pupils heard stories about the buildings and the people who lived there. Sketchbooks were soon filled with observational drawings and rubbings. Tiles were made and decorated and clay heads were created. The class’ final artwork was exhibited at the Old Royal Naval College site, in the Discover Greenwich centre.
Taking it home
This project helped the young people involved to understand the impact they could have on the Ferrier Estate in south London where their school is based. They began to understand how works of art are not only important in the development of beautiful places, but also depend upon these places for their own inspiration.
To find out what the pupils thought of the project read their articles on Engaging Places.
