Mr Oakley:
The artists in Residence programme is a programme for Professional artists to come and work in a school environment. These could have been visual artists, Musicians or sculptors or performing artists. Kingston High was successful in its application for an artist in residence and we were offered the services of a pair of performing artists.
Kelly and Julie were in the school for a total of ten weeks and in that time they worked with groups of students as well as pursuing their own arts practice. I was excited to have this programme in the school, particularly so that students could see how professional pathways in the arts might work – to find out how people make a living being creative. And to offer an experience that we wouldn’t have otherwise been able to offer in the classroom. Twelve students had the opportunity to work directly with Kelly and Julie and I have asked Tamara and Ben to tell you a little about their experiences.
Tamara:
You will probably know about the lady with the pink headphones and rainbow shoes and her friend who wore scarves who would sometimes be doing really strange things in the learning street. We had the opportunity to work closely with Kelly and Julie and find out more about the ways that they create their work and the meaning behind it.
It was great being a part of something that was outside of Drama – As well as being part of Drama. It was a great Experience for not only myself and ben but the rest of the group as well.
Throughout this course we learnt a lot about ourselves as individuals and about each other. As the course went on over weeks we went from a group of students who didn’t realy know each other to being great friends.
Working with Kelly and Julie has been a great experience and I have learned a lot not just from them but also from the whole group that I was working with.
Ben:
For 6 weeks we worked with Kelly and Julie training and playing in performance as a part of a community. We learnt how to really see the environments that we work and learn in every day. We then used performance to engage with and see the environment with new eyes.
One of the great opportunities that came out of working with the artists in residence was that we got to perform at the Salamanca arts Centre on a Saturday night as a part of their 35th birthday party. It was great to be doing something out in public with a whole group from school.
We really enjoyed working with Kelly and Julie and in the time we had together we became great friends.
Thanks.
Artists in Residence @ Kingston High School 2012 