Kew Gardens - September 2019

On Wednesday 25th September, the Art department took all Year 10 Art and Photography students on a trip to Kew Gardens, supporting Art students’ project on ‘Structures’ and Photography students’ work on the Human Form using double exposure with Organic Forms.  There was a rare and unique opportunity to see the work of glass artist Dale Chihuly, which included drawings and specific large scale installations, as well as smaller sculptural work within the galleries visited.

The day started a little wet and grey but fortunately the weather was dry when we arrived at Kew and we were able to explore the variety of extraordinary structures found within the vast grounds, from the obvious organic rare specimens of trees and plants from around the world to the Victorian glass houses and contemporary tree top gallery walk, high above the tree canopy.  The Hive was also visited, which is a 17m structure built to give the viewer a multi-sensory experience in exploring the life of the bee. 

In the weeks of preparation prior to the visit, Art students created a sketch book to use on the day and Photography students worked on photoshoot plans.  All developed an understanding of the possible opportunity this trip could offer in supporting their evidence for the GCSE objectives.  During the visit students sketched and photographed, recording a variety of methods from first-hand experiences of the artwork and the natural structures.

As always, students’ behaviour was impeccable and we were very proud of them all.