Call for Creatives

British Museum In your Classroom is a collaborative project between Tees Valley Museums, Kirkleatham Museum and the British Museum to bring Arctic objects from the British Museum’s collections to Kirkleatham Museum with one special object being loaned out to two Redcar Primary Schools as part of their British Museum in your Classroom events.

Following on from the loans to the schools, the children’s work will be displayed at Kirkleatham Museum in the Summer of 2025 alongside the objects from the collections of the British Museum which the children will have been learning about.

Tees Valley Museums will appoint two artists to respond to the artwork of Kenojuak Ashevak and her artwork titled “Our Beautiful Land.”  (Kenojuak Ashevak (1927–2013), Nunavut Qajanartuk (Our Beautiful Land). Lithograph and watercolour, 1992. Reproduced with the permission of West Baffin Eskimo Cooperative.)This circular artwork depicts the Innuit traditions in the different seasons from ice to water. From tents to igloos. From Kayaks to dog sleds and from light to dark. It includes information about the climate, landscape and wildlife of the Nunavut region.

Classes will have a replica of this artwork to look at in detail in their classrooms. We are inviting two artists to respond with two separate upper Key Stage two classes in Redcar to create a response around the seasons, landscapes and wildlife of the Tees Valley.

One artist will use printmaking techniques. One artist will use collage techniques to respond to the artwork.

Tees Valley Museums will appoint two artists to work in two separate schools in Redcar and Cleveland.

Kirkleatham Museum and Tees Valley Museums will engage children with the artwork during class sessions and will introduce each artist to the class.

Artists will be invited to engage children to compare life in the Tees Valley with life in the Arctic, particularly the Nunavut region. They will then be invited to design and engage the class of children to create their own response to the artwork which will be used in both the school museum and the exhibition in Kirkleatham Museum in 2025.

Class teachers and school staff will support by providing an area for children to work in, and a small amount of storage of materials whilst the project is taking place.

Tees Valley Museums will:

• Provide an overview of the artwork with detailed information about elements of the print.
• Liaise with Kirkleatham museum and the school where appropriate
• Provide further additional in person support in the classroom

Kirkleatham Museum will

• Introduce school staff to the artist.
• Support with arranging dates and times for class sessions to be completed
• Further additional in person support in the classroom

School Staff will

• Introduce children to the artwork to the children before the first visit from the artist.
• Ensure the children are well prepared with a brief knowledge of life in the Arctic and a brief understanding of the artwork.
• Provide an area for the artist to work in school with the class.
• Support with a small amount of storage of materials etc. whilst the work is ongoing.

Appointed Artist will

• Gather ideas for a Tees Valley Version of the print
• Respond creatively to the children’s ideas to provide a collaborative opportunity for each child in the class to participate in creating the artwork
• Work with children across five afternoon sessions in order to have the majority of the artwork completed
• Produce a piece of artwork that will be ready to install both at the school and at Kirkleatham Museum

• 5 x half days in a school
• Prep time
• Materials
• Total £1700

Application process:

Please e-mail with an up-to-date CV and covering detailing your experience working in primary school settings. Please include any relevant experiences working with cultural artworks and world cultures.

A covering letter should also be included detailing initial ideas and approaches that you might take to support children to engage with the artwork comparing lifestyles in Teesside to the Nunavut region. Further ideas around how you might deliver this to a class should also be included. Please include any links to your website or previous projects.

The successful applicants will be required to provide an up to date DBS certificate alongside their Public Liability Insurance certificate.

For further details and information please e-mail jenny.wilkie@stockton.gov.uk

Please e-mail by Saturday 30^th November to jenny.wilkie@stockton.gov.uk Any submissions submitted after this date will not be considered.