Five sculptures made out of wood cut into different shapes and painted in bright colours
A primary aged boy in a classroom in blue art smock holds up his fingers covered in bleu paint, a wooden sculpture is on the table in front of him
Two primary aged children sitting on the floor draw with crayons onto a long piece of paper
Primary aged girl in a classroom and wearing a blue art smock holds up her fingers covered in pink paint as she creates a sculpture out of wood
Three primary aged children in a dark room create shadows on white cloths on the ceiling
A photo of a wolf, standing on a deer, standing on an elephant, standing on a rhinoceros with sparkling light coming from them
A photo of a wolf, standing on a deer, standing on an elephant, standing on a rhinoceros with sparkling light coming from them
A black and white photo of a young woman, sitting against a fence her face partially covered by an ipad
A group of brightly coloured trees made out of paper
A collage of photos of children's artwork of trees and a tree
1 adult and 6 secondary aged school girls sit at desks working on their artwork

Introduction to the Inspired by BAS9 Lead Teachers programme

Arts Connect and the University of Wolverhampton are working together to create an exciting Inspired by British Art Show 9 learning programme that inspires teachers and young people to engage with the show and explore contemporary art. We are collaborating with 10 teachers, lecturers and arts educators from across the West Midlands who are all designing and delivering contemporary art projects, resources and activities in their settings inspired by the themes and artwork of British Art Show 9. The Inspired by BAS9 lead teachers will be sharing their explorations and learning to support and inspire creative teachers from all education stages and levels to take advantage of British Arts Show 9 exhibiting in Wolverhampton from January 2022.

‘We want this to be an ignition moment for teachers to be able to collaborate, refresh arts curriculums or simply try something different in the classroom.’ Becky Thompson Inspired by BAS9 Learning Programme Manager.

Inspired by BAS9 Lead Teacher Fay Patrick Reception teacher and Arts coordinator at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Primary School Birmingham is exploring contemporary visual artist Tai Shani’s artwork with her reception students to help them to express their emotions around their experiences of lockdown and channel their imaginations through storytelling and play. To find out more about how Fay is exploring BAS9 click here.

Thea Brown Head of Art and Photography at The Phoenix Collegiate in West Bromwich is working with her Year 12 students to exploring ‘What is Contemporary Art?’ through British Art Show 9. One of the reasons she chose to become an Inspired by BAS9 Lead Teacher is to ‘promote engagement with contemporary art could be developed to support and share with other teachers and community organisations.’

Through her role Thea has been working with her Post 16 students around the themes of British Art Show 9 and guiding students to investigate the artists exhibiting in the show ‘ensuring there is a diverse curriculum to create opportunities for all students to develop personal expression.’ Thea has also been working with students from Hamstead Junior School to explore the artwork of BAS9 artist Hurvin Anderson who grew up in Birmingham. Through this project KS2 students have had the opportunity to find out about a local black artist and build their mark making and observational skills.

Thea also presented during an online teacher focused session to share her Inspired by BAS9 projects and students’ outcomes with a wider creative teacher community. She will continue to explore British Art Show 9 engaging with contemporary artists to ‘promote a teaching space to encourage creative risk taking.’

To find more about how Thea is developing an Inspired by British Art Show 9 curriculum click here, and to see how students are students responding to the project click here

Inspired by BAS9 Lead Teacher Mrs Stephens leads the Art department at Nunnery Wood High School, Art is a very popular subject at the school with well over half of KS4 students opting for a GCSE in either general art or photography. The art department aims to provide a broad art curriculum that looks at traditional skills but that also embraces ideas, themes and content that is relevant to students and their lives.

‘Exposure to contemporary art is very important for us as a team of teachers, we are constantly looking for new and exciting artists, craftspeople and designers to present to our students.’

‘Exploring British Art Show 9 has really helped us achieve this goal. The contemporary art scene is ever changing and by working alongside the other BAS9 Lead Teachers, we have been introduced to an incredibly diverse range of practitioners thus breathing new ideas into our curriculum.

In lessons we have analysed, discussed and been inspired by the BAS9 artists and students have used them as a springboard for their own ideas and intentions. They have explored techniques, processes and concepts and we have been delighted at the progression and refinement that has been evident in their work.

Furthermore, by learning about these artists and seeing how they exhibit and market their work helps support and raise the profile of our subject. Our students realise that a career in art and the creative industries is a viable future prospect and they are excited to know that there is potential for them to continue developing their skills.’

The Inspired by British Art Show 9 Lead Teachers will continue to develop projects, explore BAS9 and share their learning throughout the duration of the show and will publicly showcase their students work in 2022.

To find out more about how you can join the Inspired by British Art Show 9 Learning Programme contact Becky at R.Thompson6@wlv.ac.uk

Categories: Blog, Uncategorized