A special project sponsored by the Heritage Lottery Fund with £10,000 of ‘Stories, Stones and Bones’ 2017 Funding

The mosaics that Art & Design pupils and staff created with the assistance of the artist Alan Potter in May were installed on the front exterior of the school in July. The finished mosaics look fantastic! Look out for the plaque with the names of everyone who contributed to this part of the HLF Roman-themed project.

Remember, 2017 is the Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology!

A Sense of Place is inspired by two local heritage sites: the Antonine Wall and Bar Hill Roman fort. You can find out about these UNESCO World Heritage sites at the website www.antoninewall.org

Miss Armstrong visited Alan Potter at his studio in June to see the mosaics as they neared completion. She took some photographs of the mosaics in the artist’s studio and some as they were being installed at the school. The studio visit gave her a valuable insight into the working methods of an artist renowned throughout the UK for his mosaics, sculpture and paintings. You can see these photographs and many more of the pupils and their mosaics on the GHS Art & Design website.

This session, S1-6 pupils throughout the Art & Design department will take part in different practical activities which will allow them to learn about Roman culture and the Roman presence in Cumbernauld. Activities include drawing and painting, ceramics and printmaking. The Scottish artist and illustrator Kate Leiper is going to visit the school to hold a day’s workshop with twenty S1 pupils on Monday 11^th September, which will help them create characters for an illustrated brochure about the local heritage sites. A workshop (Roman feast wall art) will be held at Redburn School in September or October to help the pupils there learn more about the Romans too. From term two onwards, exhibitions of the pupils’ artworks will take place in Greenfaulds High School and at the local museum in Cumbernauld to engage the wider community with their local heritage. The Art & Design department look forward to seeing you at these HLF Scotland sponsored exhibitions!

A big thank you to Alan Potter for his wonderful designs for the mosaics and for assisting the Art & Design pupils with their mosaic-making! Thanks go to the Heritage Lottery Fund also for providing the funds needed for the project – it has been an amazing experience.