Randy Klein + The Children and Staff of Boutcher C of E Primary School

Germinate

Boutcher C of E Primary School1st September 2001 - 10th January 2002

Published by Taking Shape Books30 Homeleigh RoadLondon SE15 3EE020 7635 8627

randy@klein.f9.co.uk

ISBN 0-9542951-0-2

Copyright © Randy Klein and Boutcher C of E Primary School 2002

IntroductionA garden is a magical place. And in a school in an inner city location, it is especially precious. Boutcher C of E Primary, located in Bermondsey in South London, is fortunate in having a generous amount of green spacein its grounds. The garden is hidden from the busy road the school sits on by a large billboard. Its advertising messages shout at the passingmotorists to ”Buy this!”, “Drive that!”, “Invest in this!” It is in this environmentthat a garden can make a big difference - as a haven from all of the noiseand acquisitiveness of city life.

I have left the solitary confines of my studio many times to get involved in residencies. There is a great freedom in following my own thoughtsthrough to the creation of a body of work and eventually to an exhibition.But there is something which working with a community gives me to whichI am drawn periodically. The fact that I can help others to touch their owncreativity and leave a lasting mark of that process gives me a special kindof satisfaction. And never more than when working with children.

I was first introduced to Rose Marie Lowe, deputy headteacher of BoutcherSchool, by Philippa Beagley of Southwark Arts Forum. I had already workedwith children on many artists’ residencies, and had developed a personalworking method in the projects I had been involved with. I felt that it wasvery important to develop a lasting and visible product as a result of theseprojects. Sometimes they have been permanent sculptures, sometimes a published book or a video, and sometimes they have been an environ-mental change to the community.

Rose Marie and I found a harmony of intention, and we formed a strongpartnership. Her aims - to unleash the children’s creativity through work-shops with an artist, and to use the ideas generated to develop the schoolgarden - were in perfect sympathy with my own working method.

Together, we set to work - clarifying our ideas, writing proposals, searchingout funding and partners. And so Germinate was born. In the end, we accomplished all of our original aims. However, it occurred to us thatone of the reasons we were able to succeed was that we have both had a great deal of experience - in education, in artists’ residencies, in environmental projects. And it also seemed to us that there might be other organisations out there - schools, community groups, charities -which might find our own experience on Germinate useful and instructive.

This book grew out of the desire to share our experience. It is a documentof our environmental project at Boutcher C of E Primary School. It is also

a “how to” manual. Perhaps some of the techniques we have used toincorporate the children‘s ideas into permanent form will inspire your own creativity. Perhaps the step by step guide will be helpful for those who have loads of creative ideas, but need to see how those ideas can be developed into a finished project.

The information in this booklet will have special significance for educationalinstitutions, but will also be relevant for any group or organisation lookingto involve users in a creative consultation to change their environment.

Randy KleinArtist

Working with partnersThere is a lot of potential help outthere, both for funds and sponsor-ship in kind - does a local printerwant to help with printing costs? Is there a local environmentalorganisation which could help youfind trees and other plants? Theremight also be other organisationsin your area, statutory or voluntary,which could help you develop yourproject further, help put you in touchwith artists, sponsors, funders, etc.The more information you can get the stronger your chances of succeeding with your project.

In Germinate, the first partner we decided to work with wassomeone who could help us withthe layout and execution of ourlandscape ideas. We discoveredthat Southwark Park Rangersundertook outreach projects, andwe contacted them. They not onlyhelped by creating designs for theoverall landscaping of the garden,they researched suppliers for plants,trees, and accessories like pondsand bird feeders.

They also worked on the actualplanting and landscaping of thegarden. In short, they were anindispensable partner on the project.

The GateAfter the installation of the newfencing, it became apparent thatthe old gate simply would not do! A small team of children workedhard to come to decisions for a newgate that would fit aesthetically intothe newly created area, but whichwould serve the practical purpose it was intended for. Within theseguidelines designs were drawnand a combination of these usedfor the finished product.

SculptureMany of the children created ideasfor colourful sculptures for the garden. Some were statues of theheadteacher, others were frog statues, fountains, etc. There werea huge number of ideas from thechildren for a free standing sculp-ture. Several of these ideas used a rainbow, a bridge, or an archshape. By appropriating this forminto a sculptural feature, we wereable to include many differentdesigns by the children into anarchway that forms a feature in the final garden. The details in thearch were created by artist RandyKlein and his assistant PabloMonsalve. The tubes were rolled by a specialist tube bender. LondonEngineering, a local steel fabricator

who Randy had worked with onseveral other projects, generouslyagreed to donate their time andexpertise to put the arch together.Des, the master welder at LondonEngineering, welded the details to the curved tubes. Then the archwas painted in the rainbow coloursthat featured in the children’s model.

Minibeast areaInitial workshops which brain-stormed ideas for the gardenresulted in a lot of the children’sartwork being related to insects,worms and other little beasties.This was the beginning of the idea for having a minibeast area in the garden.

Once again, Southwark ParkRangers were great at guiding us - a log with holes in it is an idealhome for minibeasts. A trap dooron the garden floor, when opened,will reveal all sorts of creepycrawlies. These and other ideascame directly from the Rangers.

Bird and butterfly areaThe younger children were particularly fascinated by butterflies and through workshops producedcolourful images in paint, plasticine

and other media. Following theirideas we developed a butterflyarea in the garden specificallyplanted to encourage the inhabi-tance of different species.

A bird area evolved in a similarway and nesting boxes and feeders now sit side by side withthe berried trees and bushes birds love.

Paving stonesFollowing a design from an individual child, we developed an idea to create our own pavingstones, complete with clay insertsmade by children in workshops.These inserts were sunk into wetcement on site to make the finalpaving slabs. Artist Eunice dePascali, who is also a parent of a child at Boutcher Primary, generously donated her time andexpertise, working with children to create the clay inserts, and thenfiring them. The paving stones werecast by Southwark Direct, and laidby the Green Team, Southwark.

The Climbers and the FenceThe old garden fence was startingto fall apart, so we proposedreplacing it. As part of the newfence, we decided to incorporatesculptural plant climbers at the top. Workshops were held with

Randy Klein, in which childrenworked with wire to develop theirideas for the climbers. Then Klein,together with his assistant Pablo deMonsalve, built the finished climbersin forged steel, and welded them to the upright supports of the newfence. Brightly coloured geometricshapes, made from perforatedsteel, were used to decorate themain body of the fence.

The BillboardAt the bottom of the garden therewas a billboard facing out to theroad. This billboard belongs toMaiden Outdoor Advertising, andprovides a small rental income to the school. The worn out, boringback of the billboard was all youcould see from inside the garden.Discussions with John Ball and Roy Oliver of Maiden OutdoorAdvertising led to an agreement:The school would keep the rent for the the billboard reasonable,and Maiden would provide a newbillboard on the inside. Children’s’drawings were blown up to fullposter size. They were then printedby Russell Signs and mounted. This poster will be changed severaltimes a year, with a competitionheld to choose the new artwork.

The PondIn many of the models produced by the children, a water feature or pond was included. This wasincorporated into the final design.At the consultation, some parentswere concerned about child safety,so we made sure the pond wasvery shallow, set the pond up highon a little mound (so it could not be stumbled into), and surroundedit with a rockery protecting it further.

Step 1. Clarifying your aimsWhen you think of your aims, what springs to mind? A new pond? A refurbished play area? A community led environmental art project on an estate?

These might be your practicalgoals, but what are your real aims?Dig deeper and try to explore theconcerns of your community morefully. For example, it might beimportant to engage local people in their immediate environment, to invite them to creatively imaginewhat they would really like, and to empower them to actually makethose changes.

If people have a sense of owner-ship of their environment, they will be more likely to value and nurture it, and to take a positiveconstructive role in the community.Young people can benefit greatlyfrom gaining insight at first handinto the world of work and the skills of people involved in creativeimprovements. The creative arts are a great forum for all of thesebenefits, and bring untold benefitsof their own.

These kinds of aims are moreinspiring to you than merely thinking about the pond you wantto create. They will also be moreinspiring to your potential funders,sponsors and partners. But theycan only be discovered by thinkinglong and hard about your particularcommunity, and the people yourproject will involve.

Step 2. Writing a proposalOnce you have identified your aims, you already have the core of your proposal. Now you have to make sure these aims areexplained in a clear and simpleway. Remember, those readingyour proposal will not have as clearan idea of the background andfunction of your organisation, norwill they have a sense of the historyof your involvement. All of this mustbe communicated in the introductionto your proposal. It is always a goodidea to give your project a name.Think seriously about this, becauseit must be a tag which will expressthe central themes of your ideasboth to participants and to potentialfunders and partners.

The proposal should answer fourimportant questions:

Who? Who will benefit, who will help you, who are your likely partners?

What? What is it you hope toaccomplish? This is the practicalstructure of the project, and thespecific outcomes - the thingswhich were too specific for youraims. For example if your projectincludes artist workshops with children, then how many work-

shops, how long will they be, what will actually happen in theseworkshops, what materials will you need, where will they takeplace. These are the nuts and bolts of your project.

How? How will this be achieved? Exactly where are the workshops to be held? How will you find theparticipants? How will you get the support of partners? Will youresearch other projects to see howthey succeeded?

When? A precise timetable shouldbe written (which may need to be updated). Perhaps the projectwill naturally fall into sections, i.e. Phase 1: Meetings to organiseproject, identify possible sources offunding, etc. Phase 2: Workshops.Phase 3: Consultation with the community and final plans. Phase 4:Environmental improvements.

Many funding organisations willhave their own application form or suggested structure to your pro-posal. Don’t be afraid that you arewasting your time. All of the workyou do perfecting your proposal willbe useful - most of the applicationsand guidelines will have a similarstructure. Additionally, most of thework you do on your applicationwill be useful to you on your nextapplication. You will find that theyget easier to complete as yourideas get clearer.

Step 3. Fund-raisingIs your project actually fundable?

Your ideas must be interesting and unique to potential fundingbodies. If it is a plan to put a sandpit in a play area, this will not fire the imagination of a funder.Perhaps you should spend moretime on steps one and two until theproject really begins to develop andbecome more interesting.

How will you research your potentialfunders? Do you have any ideasabout where to start looking, perhaps charities local to your area or relevant to your particulartype of organisation. There mayalso be local arts organisationswho can help you with searchingfor funding, and will even help youfind artists to work with. Germinatewas based in Southwark and wewere fortunate to have SouthwarkArts Forum. Don’t be shy. Phone up any funding leads and talk tothe administrator. Are they likely to be interested in your project? If not, can they direct you to anotherfunder who might be interested?Much of the funding for Germinatecame from sources identified byother previous funders. Some fund-ing bodies are specific to a localarea. Perhaps your local councilkeeps information on these funders.

Some funding bodies are nationalbut have locally based offices. If youare a school, you will no doubthave heard of sources of funding.Some funders publicise themselvesby sending out information. If youhear of any projects which interestyou, or seem similar to your own,try to find out how it was funded.There are also large directories of information, listing hundreds of funders:

The Directory for Social Change is a very expensive book, but it shouldbe available at your local library.

Funderfinder 0113 2433008www.funderfinder.org.ukYou will be expected to purchasetheir software to be able to use this resource, however if you phonethem you can find out which librarylocal to you has their software.

The Arts Council of England hasfunding programmes for arts in education. Also, the regional arts boards will have programmesdedicated to your area. Both

organisations manage lotteryawards as well.

Arts Council of England14 Great Peter St.London SW1P 3NQ020 7333 0100

London Arts 2 Pear Tree Court London EC1R 0DS020 7608 6100

www.charitiesdirect.com

Step 4. The ConsultationFrom the very beginning we knewwe would need a chance to shareour ideas with all of the interestedparties. Parents, teachers, all of thechildren, local people along withfunding bodies and local councilrepresentatives. For this reason we planned to have an exhibition of the children‘s work, and we also produced a questionnaire forvisitors to the exhibition. This askedfor comments and reactions to theideas on display, and invited anyfurther ideas.

Step 5. Managing a BudgetIn order to establish a baseline for the amount of funding required for the project, we outlined approximate costings for the main elements contained in it, i.e.workshops, landscaping, planting,construction costs and sculpturalfeatures. Once initial funding wasfound, match funding became easier to elicit. As the projectevolved, developments meant

that further funding was needed.We ensured that a contingencybudget was always kept and prioritised spending, branching outas more money became available.Many expenses were cut as wordof mouth from one partner to othersresulted in us gaining products andlabour we needed at near to costprices - this being one of the majoradvantages in establishing the formof network that this project allowed.

Step 6. The EvaluationThe educational benefits of the project were enormous. The childrenlearned to view their environmentfrom a new perspective, and to realise how they themselves are able to have control overimproving it. They learned to work cooperatively, making jointdecisions as to designs best suitedto a specific purpose. In additionthe project afforded them theopportunity of working with peoplefrom many different walks of life. As the children became increasinglyinvolved in working with Germinate,so the opportunities for extension of the curriculum became moreobvious and, in fact, inherent in theproject. The final result has been thecreation of a beautiful and tranquilarea in the midst of the inner city.For all those involved it has been a real and lasting experience.

Step 7. The ReportTaking the evaluation further, a report about the project is important to sum up all of theaspects of the project, and to

share the experience with others.Your partners and funders, as wellas participants and stakeholderswould like to know how the projectwent. In our discussions of how toput the report together, we realisedthat our experience might havemore general interest to the artseducation community, and the idea for this book came about. The printing of Germinate wasfunded by a generous grant fromLondon Arts as part of their fund for building arts education networks.

We hope it gives you some idea ofhow we went about achieving ourdreams, and maybe is in some wayhelpful to you in achieving yours.

Religious EducationCreation of life •Spiritual Reflection •Appreciation of theworld around us

Information Communication TechnologyResearching related information using the internet • Planningand designing layouts

ArtDrawing skills - line drawing and proportion • Painting -colour mixing, brush control,shade and tone • Drawingwithin specific requirements

EnglishPoetry • Fictional andnon-fictional writing •Reading of related texts

GeographyWeather and climaticinfluences • Local areastudy • Wind directionand effects • Rainfall •Seasonal changes •Comparative environments

Maths Measurement - area,volume, capacity, length• Scale and mappingskills • Multiplicationand addition • Graphsand data handling

MusicComposing andperforming usingthe garden asstimulus

ScienceHabitats of animals,birds and minibeasts •Food chains • Life cycles• Pollination • Fruiting •Evaporation • Growth of green plants •Conditions for life

Design TechnologyDesigning and makingstructures from differentmaterials • Food tech-nology using gardenproduce • Planningand designing layouts

Germinate Garden Project

Germinate was made possible by grants from:Southwark Children’s’ FoundationWorshipful Company of DyersCross River PartnershipCorporation of WardensSouthwark CouncilGroundwork SouthwarkLearning through Landscapes

With special thanks for their support:Southwark Arts ForumLondon EngineeringSouthwark Park RangersLondon Wildlife TrustJohn Purcell PaperMaiden Outdoor AdvertisingBrowns DesignDavy JonesEunice de PascaliPablo MonsalveSouthwark DirectWesterham Press

Photography by Davy Jones(except pages 3, 6-7 and 14-15 by Randy Klein)

Design by Chris Duggan at Browns/LondonPrinted by Westerham Press

This book was published with thehelp of a grant from London Arts

I Have a Dream

I have a dreamThat a mystical gardenTook the placeof my own.

The sweet scent ofRoses and tulipsAttracting the beastly insectsThat collect the sticky pollen

The trickling sound ofwater over stones,Listening to the swayingOf the old willow tree in the breezeThe colourful flowers,Surrounding the wildlife pondHome to many creaturesThe unpredictable shapes of the clouds.

A blazing hot sun,Scorching your back,The velvety petalsThat scatter the ground.This is the gardenof my dreams.With not a care in the world,To worry about.

Yetunde Yusuf

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