Darwin – Talbot Rice Art Gallery | Creativity Portal Case Studies

ABOUT

This gallery based education project was developed to complement exhibitions at the Talbot Rice Art Gallery, celebrating the Darwin anniversaries in 2009.

Inter-disciplinary workshops were devised and delivered at the Talbot Rice Gallery, enabled Art and Biology students to work together in groups. The gallery’s exhibition of contemporary art formed the starting point for discussions about Charles Darwin and evolutionary thinking. The exhibition had 2 strands:

– exploring Darwin’s time in Edinburgh and his enduring influence on the world today

– showcasing 5 contemporary art projects inspired by Darwinian thought

During the initial workshop, students focused on the artworks and led by the Gallery Education Curator analysed artworks by contemporary artists and examined the science that inspired them. The science behind the artworks was then placed in an evolutionary context by a Science Communicator at Edinburgh University and a researcher from the Institute of Evolutionary Biology.

There was also a practical session where the students got involved in physically exploring where creativity, evolution and design collide. Students worked in groups to ‘evolve’ species using art materials, making adaptive changes in response to a series of environmental changes. A further session examined how these species have just evolved and compare this process to that proposed by the theory of evolution through natural selection. The aim was to embed student’s understanding of the topic.

The project involved:

– 39 Higher and Advanced Higher biology and art students

– 3 teachers

– 1 gallery educator

– 1 science communicator

– 2 phd students (1 art history and 1 biological sciences)

– 5 professional artists exhibiting in the gallery

PURPOSE

The Talbot Rice Gallery devised this education project to simultaneously cover objectives from the Biology and Art higher and Advanced higher courses. Developed in response Curriculum for Excellence, it enabled the gallery to connect with and broaden a science based schools project Think Darwin, Think Evolution, Think Now, which has continued to build and grow.

The project aimed to bring together art and biology students to explore evolutionary thinking, at the same time as bringing together disciplines within the university and providing a training opportunity for postgraduate students.

A further aim of the project was to encourage peer learning between subject areas for pupils and staff alike.

Curriculum links were made in both Biology and Art. (eg Genetics, Adaptation and Selection, Environmental Biology and Molecular Biology)

The sessions also illustrated through expressive enquiry how contemporary artists use developments and theories in science as a theme for their work. The gallery sessions allowed pupils to engage in active research and investigation into the visual arts with the emphasis on contemporary contexts in modern culture.

IMPACTS

The project initiated collaborative relationships with the intention that the partnership between the Talbot Rice Gallery and schools could build upon.

For the Talbot Rice Gallery the main impact of this successful project, is a commitment to developing more interdisciplinary project for schools aimed at supporting the new curriculum. Additionally the gallery has a better understanding of its role in promoting interdisciplinary and cross sector relationships and can draw on previous success.

In feedback from the participating schools 100% of pupils said their experience would help to in some way with their studies at school.