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Students work on a live brief with SameSky

Every year, our Art & Design students get involved with arts charity SameSky, who set them a live brief to create pieces of art to be displayed as part of a trail at Kew Wakehurst Place. We had a wonderful presentation from John Varah at SameSky who will be working with Reigate School of Art over the coming weeks to create some sculptures and soundscapes for Wakehurst Place.

SameSky, who are based in Brighton, is an award-winning community arts charity founded in 1987. They work with local arts festivals, businesses, schools and many more to connect people within the art community. In the presentation, John discussed the importance of creativity and shared some examples of previous projects their team have worked on. Including community event Burning the Clocks, the Children’s parade at the Brighton Festival and their lockdown project, Awakening, where they created 12 illuminated sculptures to represent the current pandemic.

John commented: 

"This is a great community project, as all the pieces will work together as a set. When working with a group like this, we know we can leave the students to get on with their individual projects and create something. Everyone is creative, and we can't do it alone, and so projects like this help to bring out the creative side in everyone - the part of our brain that keeps us happy." 

The students were given a demonstration on how to use the willow stick materials to create the art pieces, as well as a few examples of soundscapes that music students will have the opportunity to potentially create. The students immediately got stuck in, and have been using ESC's spacious Winter Garden area as their shared studio! When asked about the project, here's what they had to say: 

"It gives you a great idea of what real life projects will be like."
Trinity, Art & Design Level 2

"It's so much fun, and it's great knowing that we're doing it for a good reason"
Shannon, Art & Design Level 2

We would like to thank SameSky for giving our students this fantastic opportunity and look forward to seeing the finalised work!