Year 9 students visit St Ives on Art residential

News - Nov 13

The following account is produced by Mrs Willey, Miss Tucker and Mr Fitzgerald.  

Despite being tired at the end of a long half term, our annual visit to St Ives did not disappoint as we took all our 33 Year 9 Art students for a one night residential.  

As soon as we arrived, we ditched our bags and walked through the beautiful town and around the headland to the Tate St Ives, followed by Barbara Hepworth’s studio and gardens. Some of us where lucky enough to hear a talk on Hepworth’s sculpture materials, amongst which are bronze, wood, plaster, marble and alabaster. Her intimately haunting studios are still home to her tools, ash tray and apron. The garden is a tranquil escape where she stored her imported, hewn stones which awaited her attention. The students spent two hours there and quietly drew the sculptures nested within the greenery. Bliss.  

In the evening, we took a walk-through St Ives, played by the water’s edge on the beach and took photos across the harbour. It felt like a mini holiday together.  

The following day, we travelled to St Just-In-Penwith to the Kurt Jackson Foundation Gallery. The year, we engaged in a practical workshop, where the students were guided to work in both collage and wet media in response to both his work and the immediate landscape (which overlooked the fields and tin mine chimneys).  

After a pit stop lunch, we headed to Tremenheere Sculpture gardens which overlooks St Michael’s Mount in Marazion, Cornwall. The enormous gardens are strewn with exotic and sub-tropical plants, which provide a spectacular backdrop for a wealth of sculptures created by internationally renowned artists. We spent the last few hours meandering through the giant gardens and resting to draw sculptures. One of our group photos was through a camera obscurer set up in a disused water tank, by artist Billy Wynter.  

It was genuinely a pleasure to be with the Art students in Cornwall again. It felt like a lovely precursor to our half term holiday and the visit has provided all the stimulus we need for the Land and Sea coursework ahead. The students were exemplary in both their behaviour and approach to the inspiring work set before them. Thank you, Year 9.