Environmental art at The Sidney Nolan Trust

HIDDEN DEPTHS - ART FROM THE ENVIRONMENT
is a programme of sessions to be based at Rodd Wood, Presteigne in 2009-10.

Living near Presteigne we have the most inspiring of educational resources on our doorstep - the Borders countryside. Despite this it seems sadly to be the case that it is often overlooked that few local rural children are growing up with an understanding of or close relationship with their natural environment, or an appreciation of its importance in their lives.

The Sidney Nolan Trust, is lucky to own and manage a wonderful natural resource, Rodd Farm, a traditional small mixed farm which incorporates ancient semi-natural woodland (Rodd Wood) with excellent arable and pasture land and hedgerows and river banks, all bursting with life. At the Sidney Nolan Trust we believe that encouraging people to creatively (through various artistic media) respond to the natural environment enhances and reinforces their appreciation of its importance and need for protection.

The 2010 programme will build upon the success of three previous projects:

1 -Trees Mean Life - devised and delivered in 2007-8 for Powys Environment and Development Education Centre (funded partly by the Forest Education Initiative).
The project aimed to raise awareness of the GLOBAL interdependence between people and trees and combined classroom learning with practical Forest School sessions out in the woods.

2 -Meet the Trees - running over 2008-9 and involving a series of visits to Rodd Wood by 2 classes of Yr5/6 children from Presteigne Primary School. The visits focus on the children observing seasonal changes in the wood and learning about the activity of the wildlife of the wood and cycles of growth over the year. Children are lead in drawing, sculpture and collage using found materials to create an artistic response to their time in the wood. Feedback from children and staff involved has been overwhelmingly positive (see attached).

3 - Rodd Wood walks- a series of walks in 2008, open to explorers of all ages. Each one had a focus - the trees, the mini beasts, the hedgerows, the fungi - and was led by a specialist. Each walk provides experience and material for a subsequent session of artistic expression/creativity. This programme has gained momentum and attracts an increasingly diverse clientele.

The 2010 programme aims to enable KS2 children from local primary schools and people of all ages from the local community to:

•  visit Rodd Wood on a regular basis
•  be guided by a trained and enthusiastic Forest School leader or wildlife specialist to discover the wood and learn about the wildlife it sustains
•  to be guided and encouraged to respond creatively through many artistic media, enhancing their experience of the wood and
•  to hopefully develop a respect for and understanding of the local natural environment and its treasures

Meet Rodd Wood enables the Trust to:
•  promote an understanding of the natural environment, already introduced, further into the fabric of the school curriculum (we will explore further avenues of funding to make     this sustainable in future years) with the exploration of many artistic media
•  extend the benefits of outdoor learning to more children aged 7-11 yrs. (There is currently a lot of emphasis on providing outdoor educational experiences for the Foundation Phase but we feel strongly that we should try and ensure the present cohort of KS2 children do not miss out.)
•  spread the word about the treasures the wood contains and enable more of our local community members to discover and enjoy them and respond creatively to them
• plan a community based promenade theatre in Rodd Wood incorporating model animals that have been created as learning aids for young peoples days - designed to draw in people who might not usually be inclined to come to the wood.

For the 2008 workshops we created a few large scale models that were used as educational aids in all sessions with young people. The models were light, made from paper mache, and fitted with a site workers helmet so that they could be worn by individuals in role play. They proved to be incredibly popular and instructive. We hope to continue to develop a stock of these creatures by providing funding to our Forest School Leader for time and materials.  The entire stock of animals will eventually feature in a promenade theatre event to be held in the wood in the summer of 2010 (additional funding will be sought). The individual models will be used continually in the future to inform our educational work.