Fisherton Residency – Preliminary visits and weeks 1 & 2
As a recent graduate undertaking the role of an artist functioning within a community I have much to adapt to and learn from but also much, I feel, to offer to the community.
My appointment as Artist in Residence at Fisherton Primary School in Ayrshire was first arranged while I was completing a research scholarship in Florence at the end of last year. I was contacted with a brief explanation of the project and undertook a phone interview, but at this point everything was still largely unknown.
On returning to Scotland I went on a couple of preliminary visits, the first to visit the school and the second to visit Fisherton Farm, where I was to live during the week. These were both flying visits, showing me glimpses of the school, where I would live and the new environment I was to work with as an independant artist and with the school. After the first of these visits I tentatively put together a residency plan to impose a structure on my time at the school. I was cautious as I hoped the residency would develop itself and did not want to restrict myself too early on. The structure I planned took its starting point from my initial remit for the residency, which looked for an artist working with photography and the environment. So to start I would expand upon three subjects: The origins of photography, Using photography to create images and Art and the environment. After these three projects I hope to develop a final project inspired my by own research and my interactions and experiences with the children.
My residency officially started on the 21st of March when I travelled to Ayrshire for two days to observe in the school, it is a very different school to the one I attended in Edinburgh with about the same number of pupils in the school as was in my class. Within each class the teachers have to teach children up to four years apart and of all different ages which is challenging, but at the same time the children are taught in smaller groups, with much more individual time with staff. These first few weeks were made much easier by the great welcome from staff and pupils.
On my second week I spent three days running some simple origami workshops for each age group, gauging the abilities and interests of each group. This time was vitally important to inform some final tweaks to my program of activities. During these first two weeks I also gave introductory talks to both staff and parents to explain my background as an artist, show examples of my work and outline my plans for the residency. I then went back to Edinburgh over the two week Easter holiday, to practice lessons and order materials ready for the beginning of the first topic, the origins of photography.
