Learning resources

The Superpower of Looking's Art Adventure

How to take part

You will find everything you need on this page to take part in The Superpower of Looking's Art Adventure – the ultimate school trip – on the afternoon of Wednesday 2nd October alongside schools across the UK.

  1. Watch the Art Adventure film above with your class: artist Sarah Graham will lead you on a virtual visit to discover artworks in Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow, and The New Art Gallery Walsall.
  2. Explore the artworks using zoomable images and prompt questions provided to support students in making their own observations and sharing their own ideas.
  3. Create collages to celebrate the place where you live, taking inspiration from the artworks you have discovered.
  4. Show off your students' artwork: share photos with Art UK to be part of the Art Adventure celebration across the country.

This set of activities is expected to take 1.5 hours.

Download teachers' notes here to support your delivery in the classroom.

Contextual background for teachers

This information on both artworks is provided to support you in exploring the artworks with your students. You may wish to share some of this information with your students after they have had chance to explore the artworks for themselves.

Two Children (1963)
Joan Eardley (1921–1963)

Medium: oil & collage on canvas
Dimensions: H 134.7 x W 134.7 cm

The children who played on the streets of Glasgow became popular subject matter for Joan Eardley, whose studio was in the city's East End. Her neighbours and favourite models, two girls from the Samson family, are the focus of this work. Eardley makes use of collage within this oil painting, adding foil sweet wrappers and scraps of newspaper to the canvas – found items you might expect to encounter on the city streets. Stencilled letters give the impression of an urban environment, suggesting the signs of local businesses such as the 'metal scrap store'.

Rhodroponicum (2005)
Melanie Carvalho (b.1969)

Medium: mixed media on paper
Dimensions: H 152 x W 122 cm

As inspiration for this work, Melanie Carvalho explored the west coast of Scotland in search of non-indigenous plant species. Plants such as the rhododendron, which feature prominently in this artwork, may not be native to Scotland, but their presence there makes the landscape all the more beautiful – a theme emerging from Carvalho's conversations with immigrants to the UK around their feeling of belonging. Carvalho's use of collage brings into the artwork a wealth of objects unexpected in the Scottish countryside; alongside her playful use of scale and perspective, they help to create a fantasy – a landscape of the imagination.

What do you see?

Activity time: 15–20 minutes.

Now it's your turn to use your Superpower of Looking.

Open the zoomable image of Two Children in a new window.

Display the image on your whiteboard to explore the details of the artwork as a class. Or, students could explore the artwork independently on electronic tablets.

Use the questions provided below to encourage close-looking and class discussion.

 
  • What do you notice about the girls in the artwork?
  • Can you find any clues that this is a city environment?
  • Can you spot any words in the artwork? Why do you think the artist has included these?
  • What might you be able to smell and hear if you were transported into the artwork?

 

Open the zoomable image of Rhodroponicum in a new window.

Again, use the zoom feature and prompt questions to explore the details of the artwork.

  • Did you spot anything in the artwork which Sarah didn't?
  • Where are your eyes drawn first? Why?
  • How many people can you spot? How many animals?
  • Imagine you could step into the artwork. Where would you want to explore? What would you want to do?
Image credit: Joe Mansfield

Create your own collage

Activity time: 30–60 minutes.

We invite you to create your own collage, inspired by the works of Joan Eardley and Melanie Carvahlo. Both artists created their collages based on particular places, so your challenge is to create a collage about the town, city or village where you live.

You might want to collect things such as sweet wrappers and found images from newspapers and magazines. Or you might want to go for a local walk to collect fallen treasures – such as plants and flowers – and to photograph the things you find. You could include people and animals in your collages too.

We invite you to bring all your completed collages together and compose them into one, large class collage. Why not display your collected artworks in your school to celebrate the place where you live?

Materials

You will need:

  • 1 square of white card per student 
  • environment inspiration: either collected finds or photographs of items
  • pencils for sketching ideas
  • pastels or paint
  • scissors
  • glue

Thank you for taking part in The Superpower of Looking's Art Adventure!

We hope you enjoy taking part in the Art Adventure alongside schools across the UK.

We'd love to see your students' artworks. Photograph your class collage and share your photos with us at learning@artuk.org. We will create an online gallery to showcase the fantastic collages created by students as part of the Art Adventure.

There are plenty more resources to explore from The Superpower of Looking.

To continue using your Superpower of Looking in the classroom, browse further resources online.

Downloads

Download teachers' notes

Do you know someone who would love this resource?
Tell them about it...

More The Superpower of Looking resources

See all