Brighten up one corner of your world
Monday 28 March 2011
Volunteers from the University of Surrey and Watts Gallery have painted a colourful mural on one of the walls of a local primary school. The mural is the University’s way of saying ‘thank you’ to the school for hosting students during their studies.
Each year, local schools support the University by providing placement opportunities for students. St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary School regularly accepts volunteer reading mentors and classroom assistants from the University.
The University’s Student Initiatives Officer Hannah Knapp explains: “The University asks local schools to take on students who are interested in gaining experience within a classroom and with young people. Often that creates a lot of extra work for the schools, who have to figure out how they’re going to incorporate our students into lessons. We try to offer regular one-off projects as a means of thanking them.”
St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary School has 420 pupils. Around three quarters of the pupils are part of the school’s gardening club. The new mural, painted on the weekend of 26/27 March, brightens up a wall next to the school’s garden.
Kevin Gawley, Headteacher of St. Thomas of Canterbury Primary School, comments: “We are so fortunate to have a team who are committed to improving our school grounds. The impact on the environment, and the learning that has taken place, has been tremendous, and I would like to thank everyone who has helped in any way.”
Watts Gallery artist Amelia Barnes designed the mural and led the project. The mural’s floral design was inspired by the interior of Watts Cemetery Chapel in Compton.
Helen Hienkens-Lewis, Head of Learning for Watts Gallery, says: “We use Watts Gallery’s internationally important collection and the Watts Chapel as the starting point for our wide reaching community projects. Our collaborations with the University include exhibitions at the Lewis Elton Gallery and diverse research opportunities.”
“For this project, we were delighted to introduce artist Amelia Barnes, who has turned to the Watts Chapel for inspiration. Floral motifs feature heavily in the Chapel’s decoration, and lend themselves to the mural next to the school’s garden.”
Watts Chapel – completed in 1898 - was the brainchild of social reformer Mary Seton Watts (1849 – 1938) and her husband, the eminent Victorian artist, George Frederic Watts OM RA (1817 – 1904). The Wattses were firm believers in creating access to art for all and the Watts Chapel realised this vision; Mary worked with 73 local villagers, training them in terracotta modelling skills, and together they created the Chapel.
Watts Gallery will reopen following a major restoration on Saturday 18 June.
Media Enquiries
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