Thorns Infant School, Kenilworth

All the children took turns to work with a mixed media artist, Jacqui Smithson, using coloured merino wool to make leaf designs and trees. These will eventually be put together to form a colourful display in the school’s entrance hall.

The children were very focused and obviously enjoyed the experience.

Warwickshire School of Art

Our 2016 best Foundation student winner is Tom Morgan, who has recently started studying at the Slade.

One World Link ‘Day of the African Child’

Our society supported this project which involved more than 500 primary aged children from Leamington Spa meeting together to link by Skype with the school in Bo, Sierra Leone. The funding provided art materials for work inspired by a Sierra Leonean artist. The children also learned about the culture through music, songs and traditional stories from Sierra Leone.

‘Make your Mark’ competition

This was a competition open to all the societies in the West Midlands. We are very pleased that Rosie Taylor, an A-level student from North Leamington School had her work selected; it was one of 14 from a total of 37 entries. The piece, ‘Lungs’, will go forward to the final judging in May 2017. Her work will be on display at RBSA in Birmingham during the national Society’s AGM.

Coventry and Warwickshire Youth Orchestra

We were pleased to provide funds to help support a concert given by the newly formed CWYO. This new organisation merged three previous youth orchestras and is now providing high quality musical experiences for players and audiences.

Harbury Church of England Primary School.

Harbury C of E Primary School Mosaic

We provided funds for an exciting new display in a key communal area of the school. This is a large mosaic, on which every child in the school worked, showing the emblems of the four Houses to which pupils belong and the core values that the school aspires to instil. The mosaic was designed by the art Coordinator, Claire Payne, and uses brightly coloured tesserae in different finishes.

The costs of the materials were very high and the school was able to use the grant of money to achieve a tremendous amount, thanks to the extra work that Claire was willing to do. It was difficult to predict exactly how many of each type of tile would be selected by each child and work had to be suspended briefly when supplies were exhausted until the new delivery arrived. The finished work should brighten and inspire pupils for many years.

Kenilworth School.

Our Society provided funds to support a series of Life Drawing workshops at Kenilworth school. These took place after normal school hours and were open to older pupils who were studying art and who contributed financially to participate. The art department were keen to offer this opportunity which is now sadly very rare.

Jo Daly, the organising teacher, believed passionately that the ability to draw quickly from life is a basic building block of further artistic development and was pleased to have been able to find a sponsor to make the project possible.

Workshops at Kenilworth School

Art Group Studios.

We supported children’s groups at the studios in Althorpe Street by providing money for additional equipment and mate rials. Two paintings by young artists were also chosen to be printed as postcards which are on sale to members.

Warwickshire School of Art Award

Our 2014 winner was James Reeves who also went  on to Edinburgh, though  to study fashion. We were exceptionally impressed by his work. Inspiration for his final show work came from an old family album of photos and memorabilia going back more than a century. He became fascinated by the idea of what is told or shown and what remains hidden; what shows through most strongly. Using images from photographs and ideas from his research, he decorated three coordinating pieces. There was a vest, a shirt and an over waistcoat, all made of the same fine and semi transparent fabric. Not only was the thinking behind his work interesting, but also the skills in embroidery, photography and tailoring make him a most worth winner of our award.

James Reeves receiving the RLSDFAS award.