artzero children's art

The emphasis on teamwork has had a positive effect on the class and the big picture they produced is awe-inspring.
Year 6 Class Teacher, Haseltine Primary School, London, 2005

Big Picture is an exciting initiative from artzero children’s art, delivering visual art projects specifically designed for the Primary Curriculum. Big Picture was developed with the support of Creative Partnerships and Education Action Zone funding and has been successfully trialed in challenging inner London schools.

Appealing to different learning styles and across a wide range of ages and abilities, Big Picture projects focus on promoting teamwork and helping children to develop confidence, self-esteem and key social skills. Designed to advance creativity, visual awareness and picture-making expertise, projects also provide opportunities for linking Art and Design with other curricular subjects.

Big Picture projects take children on an imaginative journey, re-discovering the playful freedom of their early years while helping them focus their creativity within age-appropriate behavioural boundaries. Using music, movement and games, children are encouraged to learn the difference between creative freedom and classroom chaos.

Workshops are designed to empower children's imagination through artistc experimentation. They are focused and purposeful, enabling children to develop their understanding of the relationship between play and creativity, and between speaking, listening and looking. Using playful techniques and drawing-games, the children discover that it can be 'cool' to work cooperatively! Over the course of two half-day sessions, the children progress through carefully guided stages on an imaginative and productive journey, learning how to work as a team.

project duration
A project for one class takes the form of a three day residency. It begins with a whole-class warm-up session using music, movement and drawing-games. The class is then divided into two groups for the remainder of the first day, and three groups for the following day and a half. Each group takes part in an experimental art workshop and a big picture workshop. A residency concludes with a whole-class review on the final afternoon and a brief follow-up session a week or so later. The class can also share the results of their project and show the big picture they have made in a sharing assembly.

project sessions
In the first workshop the children are encouraged to explore colour, shape and texture by experimenting with a specially developed sponge printing technique. The children work independently in a cooperative and free atmosphere. They are encouraged to play and have fun, and to learn from each other through group interaction. An essential part of the initial session is this inter-child learning. The children are encouraged to develop their speaking and listening skills by confidently discussing both the techniques they have used and the content of their pictures. The first session ends with each child being photographed holding their completed picture.

In the second workshop the children work collectively to produce a big picture based on a particular theme. Developing the experimental work from the first session, further techniques are explored including drawing and stenciling. The artists actively engage with the children, encouraging them to create freely from their imagination. The artists help the children learn to work as a team using a playful team-building approach. The workshops also focus on understanding composition and working on a large scale. In some Year 4 - 6 workshops (depending on the project theme) children are shown how computer technology can be used to aid picture planning and enlargement.

The workshops always produce excitement and a sense of pride and achievement in the finished big picture, and conclude with group photographs. A three day residency finishes with a whole-class review, when the children see the work of all their classmates for the first time.

A brief follow up session occurs a week or so later. Again using music, movement and drawing-games, the children recall what they learnt about teamwork. Each child is given a stylised souvenir 'pop-art' photo-portrait and a copy of their group photo, and the school is presented with celebratory project posters. These are an integral part of a project as they help the children to see themselves, their work and their team involvement confidently, helping boost their self-esteem. This session can be combined with a sharing assembly if required.

project outcomes
• A class will make either one large (1.8m x 2.5m) or three smaller (0.8m x 1.2m) paper murals suitable for school display. Where projects involve more than one class there is the option to bind the children’s pictures into a Big Book incorporating project-related written work.

• Each child creates experimental work and a finished picture suitable for school display.

• Each class receives a professionally produced souvenir poster (A1 in size) with stylised ‘pop-art’ photo-portraits of the children holding their individual pictures.

• Each class receives a professionally produced poster of group-photographs celebrating teamwork and showing the children with their big pictures.

• Each child receives a ‘pop-art’ photo-postcard and a copy of their group photograph as a souvenir of the project.

• The artists can also work with the class teacher to help prepare a sharing assembly if required.

project appraisals
The project has been of significant educational value to our children. Their social and communication skills have improved and their confidence has been boosted. Despite occasional challenging behaviour from some of the class, the artist was able to motivate the children to work collaboratively. As teachers, we have also learnt a great deal and have thoroughly enjoyed working with this innovative and creative artist. Thank you!
Year 3 Class Teachers, Marvels Lane Primary School, London, 2005

The class are very challenging, but the children left in no doubt as to how they were expected to behave. I liked the use of music to encourage a calm, working environment. I was impressed by the focus on teamwork and co-operation and I feel that the children responded to this and were more considerate to each other than usual. The atmosphere was calm and organised. The children were encouraged to co-operate with each other and think for themselves. I liked the introduction to the teamwork activity, which gave the children an understanding of what they were going to do.
Year 4 Teaching Assistant, Torridon Junior School, London, 2005

The project has been a great success - the class are very challenging but have been motivated and enthusiastic throughout the project. The emphasis on teamwork has had a positive effect on the class and the big picture produced is awe-inspring.
Year 6 Class Teacher, Haseltine Primary School, London, 2005

The art project has been fantastic. The children learnt a tremendous amount about cooperation and teamwork as well as the printing technique used. The purposeful atmosphere against a musical background was very special and the children grew in confidence. As a teacher, I learnt a lot about the importance of the children evaluating their own work and making their own decisions.
Year 5 Class Teacher, St John The Baptist C of E Primary School, London, 2005

The art that the pupils participated in was an amazing learning experience … They had the fantastic opportunity to experiment without boundaries; the freedom to throw away work which they were not happy with. This allowed two particular pupils to participate freely whereas before they had felt restrained by the rigidity of doing their best all the time. As a teacher, I also learned about the benefits of not restricting pupils to performing to impress others but for their own self-satisfaction. An amazing learning experience for both pupils and teachers!
Year 6 Class Teacher, Marvels Lane Primary School, London, 2005

Thanks for a wonderful project. The work the children have come up with is amazing. Well done!
Project Manager - Primary Schemes, Tower Hamlets Education Business Partnership, 2005

The artist was a pleasure to work with: responsible, creative and professional.
Head Teacher, Kender Primary School, London 2005

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