SCIENCE NATURE & IDENTITY

SCIENCE NATURE & IDENTITY

10 November – 15 December 2012

exhibition at SVA’s Ashford gallery (map).

This new exhibition marks the end of the four-year Down Time  project which aimed to address physical and mental wellbeing through a series of training and artist-led activities with young people. 

Down Time education research project represents one strand of Stour Valley Arts’ education and learning programme, funded through chances4change (C4C) and the health authority. C4C is a £5.6m portfolio of 62 projects in the South East funded by the Big Lottery Fund Wellbeing programme.  During Down Time SVA worked with 320 young people not in education or training from a health referral unit, young carers, young offenders, pupil referral units, hearing impaired children, children with disabilities and mainstream primary transition groups, in collaboration with 14 artists and 82 teachers care and social workers.  

Artists Martin Brockman, Andy Evans, Tracey Falcon, Neil Kelly, Tim Norris and Susan Shaw featured in the Science Nature & Identity exhibition at SVA’s Ashford gallery, as well as film and photographic documentation by Hope Fitzgerald.  A further six artists, Pauline Alexander, Tonita Askin, Fran Baur, Will Gould, Laura Thomas and John Scott Petty were involved in practical sessions during the Down Time project.

PUBLICATION

“Science Nature and Identity, Understanding the Value of Experiential Learning in a Land Art Context”, an associated research publication by SVA’s Lucy Medhurst, will be launched with the exhibition. Copies can be purchased for £10 from the SVA gallery or Cornerhouse publishers or online here.  

Participants and partners

The participants and partners involved in Down Time education research project include Willows health referral unit, Young Carers Ashford, Young Offenders, NEET (young people not in education or training), Birchwood and Arc 25 (pupil referral units), Valence and St Nicholas’ schools and four mainstream primary transition groups from St Simon’s RC Primary Ashford.