Baltic Stars

As part of our Baltic Stars programme, artist and facilitator, Zoe Allen, worked with children from Croft Community School, County Durham to create a vibrant celebration of colour, shape, nature and dance, exploring forms and structures and welcoming the Spring.

‘I like it because it’s big and bright and beautiful’  - participant artist.

The starting point for the project was an exploration of shape, form and three-dimensional structures, using a selection of materials and textures. The construction and connection of different 2D shapes and 3D forms allowed space for individual interests to be reflected in the artwork: Here is a space in which flora, fauna, ballet, colour, and popular culture joyfully co-exist.

The installation, which has no fixed form, is made up of drawing, collage and structural elements connected to each other with thread, which traces the movements of the makers and follows one participant’s particular interest in spiders’ webs.

This artwork was created by; Kieran Dixon, Ceanna-Sky Lambert, Ashton Knights, Yusuf Ali, Casey McVay, Stephanie Robson, Kayla Bushby, Kiera Gibson, Ashton Atkinson, Maddison Elliott, Kieran Robson.

As part of our Baltic Stars programme, artist and facilitator, Megan Randall, led creative sessions with children from Hadrian School, Newcastle to create artworks showcasing their personalities and celebrating their creativity.

During the first session, a story read to one of the children led to a group discussion around farm animals and the children decided they wanted their artworks to fit around this theme. After some creative storytelling, the children were inspired by the Julia Donaldson book, A Squash and a Squeeze. 

The group and Megan enjoyed a range of activities including den building where the children became the farmers and animals, they created self-portraits using playdough and took part in group discussions about the homes we live in. For this exhibition, the children made drawings where they imagined what they might see from the farm window including buildings, trees, parks and the animals in Donaldson’s story.

This artwork was created by; Ayesha, Nell, Karl, Nafisa, Emmanuel, Rosie, Yanny, Leighton, Aurora, Naomi and Kayden.

Baltic Stars provides authentic, artist-led opportunities for children and young people with special education needs and disabilities. They encourage children to take creative risks that express individual and group identities and allow them to grow in confidence and self-esteem through new experiences.

Baltic Stars is kindly supported by corporate sponsors, NorthStandard.