ART NEWS

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Year 9 artists had a very successful day at Kew Gardens finding inspiration for their projects. They explored the extensive glass houses, visited the Marianne North Gallery and enjoyed a picnic in the sunshine. We felt especially privileged to visit Kew on the day it entered the Guinness World Records for having the largest living plant collection at a single site! The beautiful Kewinspired art on the left is by Daisy B.

In July, we were delighted to welcome visitors to our annual Summer Art Exhibition. It was spectacular to see so many pieces of art and textiles on display from students of all ages. Well done Kingsley artists and a huge thank you to Mr Lax, Mrs Dempsey and everyone else who made it happen.

We can’t wait to see what Kingsley art students produce in our new glass fusing kiln, purchased with the £1,000 prize money!

Students across Warwickshire were invited to take part in an art competition on the theme of ‘A Creative Response to Climate Change’, run by the Warwickshire Climate Alliance and Warwickshire Open Studios. Community initiatives such as this are hugely important in increasing awareness of the devastation caused by climate change, and with many interesting and varied entries from Kingsley students we were proud to send them all off to be judged. We returned from our Easter break to the exciting news that our students had won 11 of the 12 prizes! The winning entries were displayed in the Leamington Library, where certificates and prizes (of up to £100) were presented by the Mayor of Leamington Spa, Councillor Susan Rasmussen. Kingsley also won the overall school prize of £1000, which Mr Lax has used to purchase a glass fusing kiln for the Art Room. Our thanks to David Mond from the Warwickshire Climate Alliance, Don Mason from Warwickshire Open Studios and all of the judges for making the competition happen. To find out more about these organisations and their invaluable work, visit www.warwickshireclimatealliance.org and www.warwickshireopenstudios.org.

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Painting by Cerys J, Year 9 winner and winner of the 2021 Kingsley Art Prize

ROUND SQUARE In Art Club, students enjoyed working on a study of David Hockney’s Grand COLLABORATION Canyon painting as part of a Round Square collaboration with several other schools, including schools in India and Pakistan. Each pupil worked on a section of the painting, then all the sections were joined together to create a very large and impressive piece of art. Kingsley’s colourful contribution is pictured on the left. Our thanks to Wycliffe Preparatory School in Gloucestershire for organising the project.

Our art competition on the theme of ‘Play’ received well over 100 entries featuring everything from toys and computer games to sports, music and drama. Mr Lax gave a special assembly to announce the winners. He talked about the importance of play in learning and how creative companies encourage their employees to play as a means of developing their ideas. Our winners can be incredibly proud of their accomplishments. Congratulations to Prep pupils Daya, Harriet and Mariella, and Senior School students Aimee, Helena and Annabelle. Annabelle was also the overall competition winner (painting above). A huge well done to everyone who took part! There were so many brilliant entries and we’re extremely proud of the creativity that exists within our school.

When the Friends of Christchurch Gardens invited us to turn an old BT phone box into a small but perfectly formed art gallery, we jumped at the chance! We initially used the space to share photographs taken by Kingsley students during lockdown, giving us time to create some custom-sized pieces designed to fit perfectly into each window. Inspired by the colourful and expressive paintings of American artist Jim Musil, our Year 8s rose to the challenge and produced some fabulous oil pastel pieces. They stood out really well and created a talking point within the community.

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Congratulations to Imogen B, Karina B and Bo C who were all winners in the ISA’s annual art competition. Imogen was awarded second place in the KS5 photography category of the Midlands round (more on pages 69-70). Karina and Bo were both placed first, Karina in the KS5 textiles category and Bo in the KS1 art category. Congratulations also to Isabel B and Charlotte K who were highly commended for their art submissions.

In October, Kingsley alumnae Katie, Libby and Charlotte exhibited their A-level Fine Art work at Leamington’s community café and art gallery, ‘Temperance’. We were excited to go along for a coffee and a browse and it didn’t disappoint! Scan the QR code for a quick video tour of the exhibition. The painting below is by Katie.

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