On the 29^th April, the Whitworth, alongside artists Cherry Chung and Jane Doyle, welcomed back Year 5 pupils from St Mary’s Primary, Levenshulme to celebrate their green willow public art installation in our community gardens.

The willow piece, inspired by the upcoming Santiago Yahuarcarni exhibition ‘The Beginning of Knowledge’ connects to the themes of habitat and our environment.

Both artists had been working with children at the school delivering workshops to create the piece using willow that had been growing in the school grounds. 

This Arts Council England funded work is a 3 year project utilising artists in residence based at St Mary’s with nature as designer at its heart.

Aims and Outcomes include

• Raising the profile of using Willow, a renewable, sustainable resource

• Creating an online booklet that can be shared, so that other galleries and schools could learn from it and use it, making the project sustainable

• A project that connects nature and art – offering up conversations about global warming

• Public art that is made and designed by the community

• Bringing children and their families from St Marys to the Whitworth (some of whom hadn’t been to the Whitworth before)

• Offering family workshops at The Whitworth, or in the outdoor space at the Whitworth using willow from St Marys

• Connecting to pieces of weaving in the collection at the Whitworth

We are delighted to have this piece in our community gardens as we gear up towards our Santiago Yahuarcarni exhibition ‘The Beginning of Knowledge’

https://www.whitworth.manchester.ac.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/santiagoyahuarcani/

Keep an eye out for further details as we plan a summer programme event using willow and other natural resources for the 19^th July – Free for all