music
music
music
music
The Sanctuary Project has been a project with the artist Louise Saxton
who did the exhibition Sanctuary and we worked with the local primary school
Templestor Heights Primary School and their teacher Sophie to have the
children come here and work with the artist and then go over to the
Education Centre and make some artworks in response to the exhibition that they'd seen.
Welcome to Hardy and to my exhibition Sanctuary and there were so many questions
before I'm a bit overwhelmed so many things that you all kind of brought up
that I could respond to and you've been looking really closely I think and I
think your teachers have been working with you back at school on what I actually
do on these fabrics that I work with but there are special sanctuaries just for
animals but then I also think as an artist I tend to think that museums
and art galleries like Heidi are also a kind of sanctuary and so a sanctuary is
a place where things are safe or safer than they would be if those things weren't there
and I tend to think that in a gallery like Heidi which has an art collection
and historic art collection and like the museums and libraries around the world
they're actually a place to keep those objects safe so that we don't lose them
and also as somebody said when animals do go extinct
if they are extinct in the wild they may be kept in a sanctuary
they may be the only species left or the museum might be the only place you can
see that animal like the Carolina parakeet.
One of our primary roles as a museum is to be an educational centre
and education is at the forefront of everything we do.
We welcome several thousand students to Heidi every year.
This exhibition has been particularly interesting to us as we have seen many
students from right through to tertiary engage with what Louise Saxton has done.
I found it was really important as a school and a school community that we make a
connection with our local gallery which is Heidi.
The program we have at school connected with the artist Louise Saxton's work
and the children created their interpretations of Louise's work
the opportunity to come here and to have a look at the gallery space
to be inspired by an artist and to do hands-on workshop
so they'll certainly be able to take all of those experiences back to school
and watch their learning grow.
The thing I like about Heidi Museum is that we get to look around at all the art
that other people have made and it's really cool.
I like to make it in my picture and the artwork in the Heidi Museum.
Well it's really interesting to see other artists' opinions about art
and what they have come up with.
You can look at other art works and learn about them
and if you have a question they can answer you.
I really like most of the art and everything there.
I just like going to art galleries and that sort of thing.
It's very interesting to see all this wildlife.
I like walking around looking at the sculptures
and seeing how they actually got made and learning about it.
I'm in a place where I can be myself because I really like art.
At school you usually have to go with the subject
like if it's maths you need to be in the maths brain
but then I just can be myself because my brain is usually art.
Working with children as an artist is a great privilege
because they are so open to your ideas, to what you do
and then giving them the freedom to respond to that
and to see what they do is actually very inspiring
and they asked really fantastic questions in the space.
They were intrigued by the materials
and by the time it takes to make the work.
The value of the project for students has been really good
because it places the student at the centre of the learning experience.
They come into the exhibition space
and they get to have their own responses
and reactions to the artworks that they feel
and then they are introduced to the artist
who talks about what their intent was with the artworks
and it's really lovely that always the children come up
with exact sorts of responses that the artist has intended.
Now I could stand there and talk to the students
about what the works were about and the themes
and delivering that way to the children
but when they come up with that information
they take ownership of it themselves.
They know what it's like, they know what the works mean
and represent because they've said that themselves
and then to have the artist there to talk to them about
what it is that the artist's intent was
and confirming the things that they came up with
is really valuable.
It's interesting what she thinks
and how she made all the artwork.
I think she was inspired by pictures
that had been drawn by artists in the early days.
It's interesting just seeing the real thing.
I like how she puts all the lace together
and takes pictures and looks at them.
It had lots of colour and just popped out.
It was like it was real.
Whatever expression you have at that time
it really depends on what you see in the picture
like if you're happy or if you're sad.
Because of the birds it gives me an idea
of what if I haven't seen that bird before
it gives me an idea of what it looks like
and it makes me feel happy
and it's an experience that I would like to try.
I talked to the children this morning
about how a sanctuary is for animals
and for natural species to keep them safe and protected.
But how there's also a relationship
with museums and with historical objects
and with artworks and keeping them safe.
A museum is a place to keep those things safe.
Those things from the past.
I talked to them about the materials that I'm using
and the way in which I am trying to give those
old discarded materials a new life
and that this is a sanctuary for those materials.
This space, this gallery, these new forms
are a sanctuary for those disappearing materials.
One of the great things about working with children
in the gallery and in the museum
and doing a workshop with them after them
seeing the work is that they have that first hand experience
of being with an artist, hearing what an artist says
about their work, what inspired them
but then having the freedom to express themselves.
They're not being asked to do one particular thing.
They're being given materials and techniques
which in themselves are interesting.
They're allowed to respond in whichever way they want
and what's interesting about doing a collage workshop
with the children is that every child
did something different and unique
and that is inspiring for me as an artist.
It's called the orange group part
because it has an orange beak
and they choose these colours because they are very bright
and they stand out a lot.
Well, I actually was starting off to do a big turtle
but I thought the beak was too small
so I put in the palm tree and then added the rest
because I thought that would make them look more
like have more kind of...
I made a dragon.
I just really like the creatures.
I don't know why, they just fascinate me.
Because I read books about dragons,
it says that they usually have very long tails
and I just felt like maybe show it long
like making it come off the page.
Everybody says they're like bad creatures
and bad mythical creatures
and they're always on the bad side
but I don't see them like that.
I did a bird fixing its wings
because I saw the flamingo
and it looked really nice and stuff.
I first saw the blue
and I instantly thought of sea waves
and so I thought about my time at beaches and the sun
and so I started creating a look of the beach.
The students really love it
because they get to say what it is that they think
and have their own initial responses to artworks
and how they feel about being in the space
and what that means
and that's really inspiring for a lot of children
that haven't had that experience before.
It's fun.
So lots of children were saying today
how much fun that they'd had
and then I followed it up with the question
well, have you been learning as well?
And they all told me all the things that they've been learning
about that they've seen,
that they're thinking about endangered animals
and they're thinking about processes
that artists go through
and that's really important for learning
that we get a space to be able to think about
different ways of generating knowledge
of understanding the world
and making meaning in the world around us.
Well, I think that if we go on excursions
we learn to think about it more
and that's a good thing about excursions.
It teaches you more things
so at school you'll be stuck doing work
and you're not really getting the full experience
of Lily Saxon's work.
Actually going into an exhibition
to seeing her artwork,
meeting her and telling her
and asking her questions about her artwork
and it's a lot more fun
and it's a lot better to learn.
Excursions are more fun
they're more exciting.
You can ask some questions and give a response
and so just asking a question on the piece of paper
and you don't get the answer.
It's really fun, it's creative
and you get to make lots of things.
I want to come with my family so they can learn
and so everyone else could learn
what I have experienced.
Well, it's just awesome around
being somewhere that isn't school.
It's interesting, I like all the artwork
and I want to explore more
and there's a lot to look at in the museum.
Education programs in art museums
are really fantastic.
When I was growing up there were no programs like this.
I didn't have any artists in my family growing up.
People made things by hand though
and that has always inspired me.
Excursions for teachers is really valuable
because they get to see other teachers with their students.
So they get to focus on their students
in a different way that they do in the classroom.
It's a completely different atmosphere
and people's guards are let down.
So they can be friendly,
they can have a conversation outside of school.
They can talk about what it is
that they're experiencing together
and this is really valuable for teachers
because they get to know their students better.
Other teachers get to use the museum
as a resource within their classroom
so they can come and visit the museum
and have an experience with children
that they can then take back to the classroom
and build upon the children's learning.
I refer to excursions and visits to museums
and art galleries for a considerable time
after they've actually had the visit.
So the visits are also
staying in our memories for a long time
so everyone can remember their own experiences
of having visited museums and galleries
when they were children
and you carried with that for the rest of your life.
The significance for me as a teacher
we're forever learning,
we never stop learning
and for me I found that connection
very really strong
to certainly have
a curriculum that
differentiates their learning
where children
can certainly get inspired
for their learning to grow as well
so certainly making that connection
between Heidi and
and to school
was really important.
I'm something I'm very proud of.
It's really valuable for the museum
from time to time to be able to offer schools
a deeper richer experience
where students come and spend the whole day at Heidi
where they get to experience the gardens
the different exhibition spaces
when they get to talk to an artist
and find out about their processes
and make something in the
Sydney Myer Education Centre themselves.
It's a holistic experience
that children have and it's much deeper
and richer for their learning.
One of the great things about working with artists
and presenting their work
in exhibitions like we have done
in the contemporary project space here at Heidi
is that we are able through their work
to perhaps change the way people feel
about the world in which they live.
We certainly hope we can do that
through our education programs
so that we have students who leave here
inspired to perhaps
not only make art
but to think differently about
other objects that they see around them
the material culture of their lives
the simple objects that they have in their homes
and the reason why artists might recycle
and reuse
the newly produced forms and turn them into
the wonderful works that we see around us
in this room today.
It's kind of a holistic experience
in a way. They get to look at art
they get to experience the gardens
and get a sense of the history
of Heidi but they also get to make
an artwork themselves.
That's quite special and not every school
has that opportunity
and Heidi provides that opportunity
for schools. They actually reach out
to schools to actually come and engage
and they also run programs
on the weekends and through the school
holidays.
When I was a child
I would have loved to have had that experience
but it wasn't available
so I think it's
very special.
