The Decorated School: Sculpture in Schools

Tuesday, 12 June 2012

Sculpture in Schools - What does it do?

We have looked at isolated examples of sculpture in schools in various posts on this blog. It competes with mural painting for primary place. But it is worth considering as a medium per se. After all sculpture has distinct roles to play in the aestheticised and ideological environments of schooling.

Sculpture in schools also has much to say about historical moment, artistic and institutional identity, and the interactivity of art as a whole...

Sculpture's location in schools can be critical. It can be about play... or about 'preaching'... Its relationship with the architecture, spaces and environment of schooling can be highly significant. Its particular and varied means of stimulating sensibility need special attention - more case studies are welcome...

We'll be considering some of the whys and wherefores of school sculpture at our Event at the Henry Moore Institute on 23rd June. This little visual survey can act as an introduction... More to follow...

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The Decorated School Research network

We are researching the relationships between architects, artists and educators through the art which became part of the fabric of school buildings and their immediate environments in the 20th century. We are interested in understanding more about how the art came to be commissioned, how the subject matter was decided, what was its function, its life story and what ideas about education or childhood, if any, were intended to be conveyed.

The research is funded by the Arts and Humanites Research Council and is led by Dr Catherine Burke, Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge and Dr Jeremy Howard, Art History, University of St Andrews. There will be 4 seminars, open to the public, at sites of significant interest over the next 2 years as well as a final international conference and book. We will use this site to announce events, collect material and report on findings. Do contact us to let us know of any school based murals, ceramics, textiles, sculptures by recognised artists - possibly in collaboration with school pupils - that you know exist. Many of these may be in danger as school buildings are becoming replaced often with scant regard to the treasures that they contain.

Project Partners
Peter Blundell-Jones, School of Architecture,University of Sheffield
Peter Cunningham, Homerton College, University of Cambridge
Ian Grosvenor, School of Education,University of Birmingham Roy Kozlovsky, School of Architecture, Northeastern University, USA
Kirk Niergarth, Art Historian, Trent University, Peterborough, Ontario, Canada
Professeur Annie Renonciat, visual education historian, Institut National de Recherche Pédagogique and Université Paris, France.
Andrew Saint, architectural historian, English Heritage Deborah Wakely, architect, ARK, UK Diane Watters, Buildings Investigator, Royal Commission on the Ancient and Historical Monuments of Scotland
Jon Wood,Henry Moore Institute, Leeds
Andrew Demetrius Visual Resources Curator School of Art History University of St Andrews