Willie Rodger is a nationally acclaimed artist specialising in the medium of Linocut printing. Over the past 6 weeks he has been working with groups of children in 9 schools throughout Scotland in a project called In the hands of Willie Rodger. Working through Glow and using Glow groups, discussion boards, chat and video conferencing the children have been able to meet and work with Willie in the creation of their own work. I have been lucky enough to be able to watch the work as it developed at Hazlehead Academy in Aberdeen.
Art department head Theresa Scott selected her S2 class for the project and set them the task of creating character portraits of people in the class. They then studied the techniques on a DVD provided by Willie Rodger. This prepared them for a masterclass with the artist broadcast from his studio through Glow Meet. The pupils were able to watch the artist at work and to engage with him over the video link.
The children then began working on their own linocut pieces and regularly uploaded images of their progress to Glow groups which allowed them to share and comment on their work. Regular Glow chat sessions, moderated by project leader Angela McEwan of Media Matters, enabled the children to discuss their work with peers from around the country. Willie Rodger held a further video session with each school where children were able to individually discuss their own artwork with the renouned artist.
The project culminated in an online launch of an online exhibition of work from all schools involved. Glasgow’s Poet Laureate, Liz Lochhead officially launched the exhibition in a Glow Meet with all schools involved watching and participating. The exhibition can be seen on the Media Matters website and also in the Expressive Arts national Glow group. It is also covered in the Times Educational Supplement.
Early indications are that this was a great success. Pupils and staff really enjoyed the experience and are already asking what is happening next! This was a great example of the power of the communication tools in Glow. We will be putting together more information on how it was done and also hope to replicate the work in local projects.
Richard