Education At The Munnings Collection

The museum is able to offer half and one day workshops for KS1 and KS2 students.

We have the services of Ms Bee Farrell, who is a very experienced educational officer, and a trained artist.

Please contact Diane Roe, Administrator on 01206 322127 for further details.

Changing Landscapes Project
2012-2013

 

Sir Alfred Munnings captured in great detail the changing rural countryside and the people who lived and worked the land between the years 1898-1957 in East Anglia. This has provided us with a unique and valuable resource, helping us to understand our heritage more deeply and give us a point of reference to view the continuing changes in the AONB Dedham Vale and Stour Valley landscape since 1950’s.

The Dedham Vale and Stour Valley AONB have awarded the Munnings collection funding to enable a range of projects culminating in new exhibition pieces and a programme of events in 2013. We will be working with local people, Dedham CEVP Primary School, Manningtree High School, Chantry High School, Blackbrook residents’ home and commissioned photographer Justin Partyka to create these pieces and the programme. The projects will provide lots opportunities for participants to study Munnings, to be creative and to celebrate and connect with the local landscapes. We will regularly be putting updates about the Changing Landscapes project on our website.

Update: December 2012...

The Changing Landscapes project actively began in April 2012. The lead up to the AONB funded 2012-2013 project stemmed from the previous years’ work with local schools and teachers. The learning opportunities held within studying Sir Alfred Munnings’ paintings and relating the way an artist can capture a changing landscape and its people is the philosophy behind our project work. An aim is that making connections will engender greater awareness and stewardship of the beautiful area of Stour Valley and Dedham Vale.

We have worked with three schools; Suffolk New Academy, Mannngtree High and Dedham primary and also a residents’ home called Parkview in Ipswich. Each bespoke creative session has been planned with the school or home and has made additional links with the curriculum, other places within the AONB area or a current artist’s work. Each session has started with a landscape focused tour of the art collection, related slideshow and lots of visual recording in the house and grounds.

Artist Justin Partyka was commissioned by the project to photograph in the areas where Munnings and other artists would have walked and spent time capturing the aesthetic feel of a very special part of the country.

Dedham Primary school has had 4 year groups involved to date with a wide range of themes and outcomes. Enthusiastic and creative staff and pupils have spent time painting with acrylics, exploring and recording the sounds and natural found objects in the D.E.N, making plant dyes with horticulturalist Marina O’Connell and creating Corn Dollies with the education team from M.E.A.L. An inspirational teacher at Dedham has developed the creativity further by linking the plant dye hanging made in Essex to their African link school visit where the hanging will be finished using plant dyes from a different continent.

Suffolk New Academy Year 7 art group has spent time painting with oils, sketching by the river and exploring the wonderful RSPB gardens at Flatford Mill. More recently they have been sharing their creative responses to the area with Parkview residents. This has led to insightful observations of the changing landscape within the lifetimes of the residents and the students, 82 years spanning 1920-2012.

Manningtree High project work started with the entire Year 7 enjoying an art and rural life based activity day. The day started off with an assembly of visual pictures from artist Justin Partyka and a film from CSV Media focused on Orfordness. Next, the students took part in sessions making rural objects for the C21, designing and filming flicker books, studying horse anatomy diagrams and listening to Neil Catchpole’s animated presentation of his amazing collection of old rural objects.

In 2013 the project is looking forward to continuing work with the schools and residents’ home and an exhibition within a programme of workshops and talks  at The Apricot Centre, Lawford in March/April 2013. We also hope to be able to exhibit Justin Partyka’s work alongside Munnings’ local landscapes an have a slot booked at the Flatford Mill tearooms for the project’s work winter 2013.

Update: April 2013...

The Changing Landscapes project actively began in April 2012. The lead up to the AONB funded 2012-2013 project stemmed from the previous years’ work with local schools and teachers. The learning opportunities held within studying Sir Alfred Munnings’ paintings and relating the way an artist can capture a changing landscape and its people is the philosophy behind our project work. An aim is that making connections will engender greater awareness and stewardship of the beautiful area of Stour Valley and Dedham Vale.
We have worked with three schools; Suffolk New Academy, Mannngtree High and Dedham primary and also a residents’ home called Parkview in Ipswich. Each bespoke creative session has been planned with the school or home and has made additional links with the curriculum, other places within the AONB area or a current artist’s work. Each session has started with a landscape focused tour of the art collection, related slideshow and lots of visual recording in the house and grounds.
Artist Justin Partyka was commissioned by the project to photograph in the areas where Munnings and other artists would have walked and spent time capturing the aesthetic feel of a very special part of the country.
Dedham Primary school has had 4 year groups involved to date with a wide range of themes and outcomes. Enthusiastic and creative staff and pupils have spent time painting with acrylics, exploring and recording the sounds and natural found objects in the D.E.N, making plant dyes with horticulturalist Marina O’Connell and creating Corn Dollies with the education team from M.E.A.L. An inspirational teacher at Dedham has developed the creativity further by linking the plant dye hanging made in Essex to their African link school visit where the hanging will be finished using plant dyes from a different continent.
Suffolk New Academy Year 7 art group has spent time painting with oils, sketching by the river and exploring the wonderful RSPB gardens at Flatford Mill. More recently they have been sharing their creative responses to the area with Parkview residents. This has led to insightful observations of the changing landscape within the lifetimes of the residents and the students, 82 years spanning 1920-2012.
Manningtree High project work started with the entire Year 7 enjoying an art and rural life based activity day. The day started off with an assembly of visual pictures from artist Justin Partyka and a film from CSV Media focused on Orfordness. Next, the students took part in sessions making rural objects for the C21, designing and filming flicker books, studying horse anatomy diagrams and listening to Neil Catchpole’s animated presentation of his amazing collection of old rural objects.

In 2013 the project is looking forward to continuing work with the schools and residents’ home and an exhibition within a programme of workshops and talks  at The Apricot Centre, Lawford in March/April 2013. We also hope to be able to exhibit Justin Partyka’s work alongside Munnings’ local landscapes an have a slot booked at the Flatford Mill tearooms for the project’s work winter 2013.

For more details please contact:
Bee Farrell
Education Officer
beefarrellarts@gmail.com
T: 01206 322127.

Both age groups can enjoy a range of creative activities and develop skills led by an experienced arts educator.
Each day there will be a tour of the Art Museum looking at artwork related to the day’s activity, a 20 minute slide show, art activities in Munnings’ artist studio and time spent in the grounds.

Monday         Pen and watercolour wash landscape painting

Tuesday        Clay plaster casting

Wednesday  Impasto acrylic summer garden painting       

Thursday      Wire, foil and fabric animal sculptures

Friday             Mosaic making inspired by nature

N.B  
Participants attending the afternoon session are welcomed to bring along their portfolio/art course work to develop if wished, utilising the art materials and processes offered in accordance with their own specific themes. Guidance from an experience arts educator, a practicing Professional Visual Artist, leading the summer art school sessions will be available.