"Artkitecture", a drawing, kite-making, model making and architecture workshop for 7-13 year olds (2016)
run by Cai Jia Eng and David Shanks
‘Artkitecture’ was a week-long workshop which took place in August 2016 giving children an introduction to architectural principles which they would not otherwise encounter in school. Activities worked around the theme of kites and the construction of pavilions using stable modules, drawing upon a precedent from KengoKuma. The workshop took place at St Augustine's Priory in Ealing, where the majority of the workshop's participants are pupils.The primary aim was to provide an intense learning environment where knowledge was acquired through experience and grades had no importance. We felt strongly that physical exercise and experience of equipment (drills, saws and other hand tools) and materials (bamboo, fabric, zip ties, rope) were important to a sense of enjoyment and achievement. This was about ‘making your own fun’ with a large helping hand, without all scope for making mistakes being designed out. Behind the scenes a highly structured approach was taken, where most content was prepared in advance and activities were interrelated to culminate in desirable outputs. Activities included drawing sessions, short lectures, kitemaking and flying, screenprinting, scale modelmaking, building component construction, and onsite assembly, concluding with an exhibition of all outputs for parents and relatives at the end of the week.
run by Cai Jia Eng and David Shanks
‘Artkitecture’ was a week-long workshop which took place in August 2016 giving children an introduction to architectural principles which they would not otherwise encounter in school. Activities worked around the theme of kites and the construction of pavilions using stable modules, drawing upon a precedent from KengoKuma. The workshop took place at St Augustine's Priory in Ealing, where the majority of the workshop's participants are pupils.The primary aim was to provide an intense learning environment where knowledge was acquired through experience and grades had no importance. We felt strongly that physical exercise and experience of equipment (drills, saws and other hand tools) and materials (bamboo, fabric, zip ties, rope) were important to a sense of enjoyment and achievement. This was about ‘making your own fun’ with a large helping hand, without all scope for making mistakes being designed out. Behind the scenes a highly structured approach was taken, where most content was prepared in advance and activities were interrelated to culminate in desirable outputs. Activities included drawing sessions, short lectures, kitemaking and flying, screenprinting, scale modelmaking, building component construction, and onsite assembly, concluding with an exhibition of all outputs for parents and relatives at the end of the week.
GCSE and A Level Art and Photography Student Work in Exhibitions at St Augustine's Priory, Ealing Town Hall, and the Guildhall
St Augustine's Priory (2014-present)
The Art Department at St Augustine’s Priory is a sanctuary, full of inspiration and energy. Whether students are eight or eighteen, we have high expectations that they engage intellectually with contemporary art practice, and our studios are centred around multi-disciplinary learning. Our facilities allow purposeful experimentation in different disciplines, including drawing and painting, print and sculpture, dressmaking and fine art textiles, graphic design and digital manipulation, photography and film. We facilitate our students in finding a concept that is personal to them, exploring aesthetics, culture, emotion, spirituality and controversy.
Our students exhibit maturity and depth in their work which reflect their strength of character and meaningful artistic journey. Knowing that creativity is not a linear process, we encourage our students to take uncertainty as a challenge and be resilient against risk, so preparing them for their independent futures. In recent years, such journeys have led to creative university destinations including Kingston University, Ravensbourne, London College of Fashion, and Central St Martins.
St Augustine's Priory (2014-present)
The Art Department at St Augustine’s Priory is a sanctuary, full of inspiration and energy. Whether students are eight or eighteen, we have high expectations that they engage intellectually with contemporary art practice, and our studios are centred around multi-disciplinary learning. Our facilities allow purposeful experimentation in different disciplines, including drawing and painting, print and sculpture, dressmaking and fine art textiles, graphic design and digital manipulation, photography and film. We facilitate our students in finding a concept that is personal to them, exploring aesthetics, culture, emotion, spirituality and controversy.
Our students exhibit maturity and depth in their work which reflect their strength of character and meaningful artistic journey. Knowing that creativity is not a linear process, we encourage our students to take uncertainty as a challenge and be resilient against risk, so preparing them for their independent futures. In recent years, such journeys have led to creative university destinations including Kingston University, Ravensbourne, London College of Fashion, and Central St Martins.
"A Stitch in Time", a whole school and wider community project to design and make 100 kneeling cushions for the Arts and Crafts Chapel of St Augustine's Priory led by Cai Jia Eng (2015-present)
A whole school and community project begun in 2015, ‘A Stitch in Time’ is St Augustine Priory’s celebration of 100 years of Catholic faith on the Hillcrest Road site. Students, parents, teachers, and the wider community have collaborated in groups to design and hand embroider kneeling cushions for our own Chapel which celebrate our shared values. We are now months away from the end of our project, producing items which will be of use and beauty for the years to come.
Design sessions were led by our Head of Art Ms Eng. We looked at the Catholic symbols already present all around the school, which helped us to formulate the twelve designs for the kneelers. We also visited the V&A to look at examples of tapestry and embroidery, and the work of William Morris, from whom we are drawing inspiration for patterns and style. Our kneelers are sympathetic to the Arts and Crafts style of the school Chapel, which was designed by the architect Barry Peacock in 1915. The colours chosen for the kneelers: pink, red, gold, blue, green and purple are important symbolic colours in the religious year, and have been chosen in shades that will match the interior of our Chapel.
Once designs were finalized and drawn onto canvases, we were then visited by tutors from the Royal School of Needlework, who led sessions to students and parents on different embroidery techniques. As time has gone on, the stitchers have become more independent, and have gone on to pass on their knowledge to other students. Seeing students of different ages learning from one another has been a great highlight of the project.
Students have been sewing on a daily basis during their lunch breaks, and teachers and parents have been taking the frames home during the holidays, including sessions with school alumni who have had many tales to tell about the school.
We have worked with a company which produces kneelers to have our completed designs transposed into a digital format stitch by stitch, forming the printed kneelers. We are very proud to exhibit a printed cushion and a few of our fully upholstered original cushions today. The cushions show the patience and love of our school community, and we look forward to unveiling our full set of 100 kneelers in the autumn term. Of this final set, 12 kneelers will be stitched, and 88 printed.
A whole school and community project begun in 2015, ‘A Stitch in Time’ is St Augustine Priory’s celebration of 100 years of Catholic faith on the Hillcrest Road site. Students, parents, teachers, and the wider community have collaborated in groups to design and hand embroider kneeling cushions for our own Chapel which celebrate our shared values. We are now months away from the end of our project, producing items which will be of use and beauty for the years to come.
Design sessions were led by our Head of Art Ms Eng. We looked at the Catholic symbols already present all around the school, which helped us to formulate the twelve designs for the kneelers. We also visited the V&A to look at examples of tapestry and embroidery, and the work of William Morris, from whom we are drawing inspiration for patterns and style. Our kneelers are sympathetic to the Arts and Crafts style of the school Chapel, which was designed by the architect Barry Peacock in 1915. The colours chosen for the kneelers: pink, red, gold, blue, green and purple are important symbolic colours in the religious year, and have been chosen in shades that will match the interior of our Chapel.
Once designs were finalized and drawn onto canvases, we were then visited by tutors from the Royal School of Needlework, who led sessions to students and parents on different embroidery techniques. As time has gone on, the stitchers have become more independent, and have gone on to pass on their knowledge to other students. Seeing students of different ages learning from one another has been a great highlight of the project.
Students have been sewing on a daily basis during their lunch breaks, and teachers and parents have been taking the frames home during the holidays, including sessions with school alumni who have had many tales to tell about the school.
We have worked with a company which produces kneelers to have our completed designs transposed into a digital format stitch by stitch, forming the printed kneelers. We are very proud to exhibit a printed cushion and a few of our fully upholstered original cushions today. The cushions show the patience and love of our school community, and we look forward to unveiling our full set of 100 kneelers in the autumn term. Of this final set, 12 kneelers will be stitched, and 88 printed.
"The Art Shed", an online art school for all ages (2020-present)
founded by Cai Jia Eng, Fiona McTaggart and Jemma Grundon
The Art Shed is an online learning space rooted in making art for the sake of art; our own art school in the virtual sky. Begun in 2020 during lockdown, the vision for the Art Shed is to provide opportunities for young people of all ages to engage in artistic practice and in so doing, open new doors to creative experience and understanding of the world they occupy. The first Art workshops for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 are now available for free, and can be done at home with a combination of everyday materials and specialist art materials that can be purchased online. For more, please see www.artshed.org.uk
founded by Cai Jia Eng, Fiona McTaggart and Jemma Grundon
The Art Shed is an online learning space rooted in making art for the sake of art; our own art school in the virtual sky. Begun in 2020 during lockdown, the vision for the Art Shed is to provide opportunities for young people of all ages to engage in artistic practice and in so doing, open new doors to creative experience and understanding of the world they occupy. The first Art workshops for Key Stages 1, 2 and 3 are now available for free, and can be done at home with a combination of everyday materials and specialist art materials that can be purchased online. For more, please see www.artshed.org.uk