Cullen Primary kids' vision comes alive on canvas
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
KIDS at Cullen Primary have taken to paint and canvas to express their school's vision and values.
Nurture, trust, responsibility and respect all feature on the 48" x 48" painting as part of the school's Learn and Play the Cullen Way values. The colourful canvas depicts a view of Cullen Bay and the iconic viaduct.
Cullen Primary headteacher Carene Hay said: "Staff, parents and pupils reviewed our vision, values and aims, and we wanted to ensure that our values are captured in a way that make them come alive in our school.
"I firmly believe that our values need to be modelled by adults so that the children are able to learn and play in an ethos of inclusion, positivity and respect for all. Nurture, trust, responsibility and respect are foundational to Learn and Play the Cullen Way.
I contacted Rob Greenwood, local Cullen artist, to see if he would be interested in working with us as a school to illuminate our values. This was met with enthusiasm and we very quickly launched an art competition in school.
"They were asked to capture what Cullen represents to them. The children created amazing pieces of art! Votes were cast by pupils and adults in school, and two winners from each class visited Rob’s studio in Cullen, to share their thoughts and ideas.
"Rob created drafts for pupil approval and drew the final capture onto our large canvas. I am delighted that each child and adult in school painted a part of the canvas. Rob worked with small groups over a period of time in school, and unveiled the work of art at our assembly.
"My hope is to have the canvas photographed so that we can print posters of the canvas to put up around our school.
"I am very grateful to Rob for giving up his time and for inspiring the children as he guided them and spoke to them about the use of colour and brush strokes. We thoroughly enjoyed working with him and look forward to further opportunities in the future."
The project was the first collaboration between the school and Mr Greenwood, although the artist has a long personal connection with the primary.
"It's the first time I've worked with the school on a project and it's been very enjoyable," he said.
"I have a connection with the school – my children went there many years ago – and I've always had an idea of doing a piece with them but I never seemed to have the time before.
"After talking to Carene I had the very clear idea that every kid would be able to put paint to canvas, that everyone at the school would contribute, including the staff.
"I had the winners down to the studio to discuss their ideas and then I sat down and pulled all the various ideas together and put them into my style.
I did a small example painting for the kids to work from when they came down to the studio. Working with groups of five or six at a time, I started with the youngest ones and worked up to the P7s, it was sort of like painting by numbers.
"It went very well and they seemed to enjoy it.
"I took the painting up to the school on the first day back from the summer holidays to give the staff a chance to contribute to it.
"I'd definitely love to work with the school again if asked. I've run art clubs for kids before to try and inspire and encourage them so I really enjoyed the opportunity to be involved with this project."
