Local landmarks fuel artistic exploration
Exploring well‑known landmarks in Stockport, Manchester and Salford gave the school’s creative pupils a rich source of inspiration for their artwork.
Stockport Architecture
On a crisp sunny day, 63 Third Year artists embarked on a walking tour around their local town to highlight all the architectural delights that Stockport has to offer.
First stop was St George’s Church, a familiar venue where pupils took in the huge archways and ornate detail in this fabulous example of neo-gothic architecture.
Time was spent drawing close-up sections in detail, as well as broader aspects of the building observing the key dynamic lines of the archways and searing columns alongside taking photographs using a range of approaches.
Next up was the Underbank where pupils explored the street art, cobbled avenues, newly refurbished shop fronts and the Market Hall square. Food was a huge highlight here after a busy morning, before moving on the soak up the art deco grandeur at the Plaza Theatre.
The final location was Stockport Art Gallery, where several pieces by SGS students were on show in the ‘Beautiful Things’ exhibition.
All in all, it was a rewarding day gathering a huge variety of source material to explore and experiment with back in the classroom.
Art Teacher Mrs Becci Upton said: “Pupils were able to see buildings they have seen before in a new context and were made aware of things they hadn’t noticed on their doorstep.
“They engaged with drawing and recording inside and outside with good humour and their focus and attention to detail in St George’s was outstanding.”
Manchester and Salford Galleries
Fifth Year pupils taking GCSE Art and Design spent a day visiting Manchester Art Gallery, The Imperial War Museum North and The Lowry.
Having explored the collection, the group set about drawing and photographing source material that will form the basis of their preparatory studies in response to the GCSE exam paper question they are working on.
The wealth of visual information displayed in each venue gave the pupils ample opportunity to gather the necessary research relevant to their own direction of study.
Head of Art Mr Richard Davies commented: “It was a pleasure to see the pupils engage so readily with the work in each of the venues we visited, and it is already proving useful now that they are back in school. We look forward to seeing their outcomes at the annual GCSE and A level Exhibition in May this year.”
