Derry soprano attends special art exhibition displaying work of local primary school children

A SPECIAL exhibition displaying the artwork of Derry primary school children went on display yesterday.

The artwork was created as part of the Great Art Quest run by The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts.

Children aged from 10 to 12 years from Belmont House Special School, St Oliver Plunkett, Gaelscoil Eadain Mhoir and The Fountain all took part in the project and worked with visual artist Laura Duran and poet Abby Oliviera at the Centre of Contemporary Art (CCA).

The children worked with Laura to pull out themes for the exhibition and worked with clay to create miniature monuments and 2D works.

The children also came up with their own story boards with the help of Abbey, who guided them in writing scenes and dialogue alongside the objects they made.

The art work went on display at the CCA on Wednesday and is the first ever public exhibition in a public gallery of works made by children from local primary schools.

The idea behind the project was to introduce children to the visual arts by partnering them with local galleries, professional artists and story tellers.

Speaking at the event, international soprano and ambassador for The Prince’s Foundation for Children and the Arts, Margaret Keys said: “Art is something children can do in a way that they feel free to do because in an academic situation there’s always a right and wrong answer but in art and creativity there isn’t. It’s up to them, they’re special and they’re free and won’t feel that they’re going to make a mistake.”

Orlaith Nelis, P.7, Gaelscoil Eadain Mhoir, said she enjoyed taking part in the project.

“I made a cat out of clay and when we were in a group we made a packet of Pringles,” she said.

“We were thinking what to make and my friend shouted out ‘Pringles’ as a joke and then we made Pringles out of clay. We also did paintings and the first one I added colours and the second one I made into my own with flowers and a crown.

“My favourite part was the clay modelling when I made a cat. I just thought it was really fun and I just love clay modelling.”