"Art is the means by which we communicate what it feels like to be alive..."Anthony Gormley
Welcome to Four Square Fine Arts' education programme, supporting people of all ages engage with the visual arts and explore their creativity.
Education
Schools
Through a strong emphasis on process and open- ended experimentation, our work with younger children aims to support independent enquiry and a rich learning experience with opportunities for teachers and pupils to explore together, discovering and sharing individual questions and insights in response to the visual world.
In addition we look to demonstrate the wider relevance of art & design by seeking whenever possible to create links into the community, providing opportunities to learn outside the classroom.
Below some sample projects - Work with older students can be seen in other sections
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CREATING CONFIDENCE
Find out more about Creating Confidence our practical one day workshop, specifically developed to help primary school teachers explore their own innate creativity, reconnect with a sense of play and develop the confidence to share this back in the classroom.
"Marco's visit promoted, real experimentation, and letting go, 'thinking outside the box'. He had planned some wonderful 'freeing up' starter activities using charcoal ... What we did on this day with Marco has underpinned everything we have done since."
Suzie Fox, Head of Art, Ashdown House
School visit to local art gallery
One day workshop- Ashdown House School
New materials and Processes.Gold & silver leaf
London Gallery Visit - Ellen Bell solo Show, Hoxton
Medicine Wheel: Whole school project: inspired by the work of Lewes based international land artist Chris Drury
Gallery talk by curator Sonia Crivello
Landscape collage project
Work Experience
Since 2008 we have been providing innovative work experience for Year 10/11 students at local secondary schools in Sussex. A placement with Four Square Fine Arts is a unique opportunity for a young adult to work alongside Sonia Crivello, a gallerist, representing national and international artists and Marco Crivello a professional artist.
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Helping to hang Four Square Arts Exhibition in London, E2
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Discussing composition with Marco Crivello in studio
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Brainstorming film presentation in Four Square Arts exhibition
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Interviewing Eberhard Ross, London
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Working on Marco Crivello painting with gold leaf
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Practical work in oils in studio
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Visiting Solo Exhibition by Peter Messer, Hop Gallery, Lewes
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With Liv Wenche Kjaer (Norweigan artist graduated from BA FIne Art University of Brighton)
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Practical work in studio
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Preparing Mentoring tile for website
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Mentoring animation 2
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Street Art research, Brick Lane, London
We currently offer two placements a year. If you are interested in joining us email us telling us a bit about yourself and your areas of art interest.
More about work experience
A placement with us mixes practical time in the studio, where you can explore and discuss your interests, along with an introduction to some new processes and approaches, along with being involved in the day to day running of an arts business. Some of the areas you'll get an introduction to will be curating, catalogue design, preparing for exhibitions and art fairs
aspects of marketing including social media and websites and the development of our education programme. There will also be time spent out and about, interviewing artists, visiting galleries, hanging exhibitions and generally exploring art and it's relevance in different contexts and environments.
How do you do?
Connecting young people with creative professionals
In a world where the nature of work and careers is rapidly changing, building bridges between formal education and the working community, enabling young adults to gain a more detailed understanding and experience of professions, has never been more important.
Starting in the spring of 2012, with Priory school, Lewes, East Sussex, students will research, visit, film and interview creative professionals within their communities that interest them. With the support of mentors, local film and IT professionals, they will create web profiles to be hosted on an independent website which will include many additional features for learners of all ages. How Do You Do? will aim to open the door to a world of creative work and provide an educational resource for all to share.
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- Find out ways to help us to make this project happen
- Join our mailing list – we'll keep you up to date with this project and others we're doing.
Projects
YOUNG ARTISTS UNITED
For young people to develop a creative voice and gain in confidence it is essential that they are supported in their engagement with the adult world outside school. This project was designed to focus on the creative responses of young people by arranging access to professional artists within their local community whom they would be unlikely to encounter otherwise.
The project brief involved choosing a local artist’s work, visiting their studio and creating a piece of work as a response to the visit. The final artwork was exhibited as part of a larger exhibition, Artists United, involving 40 artists, sculptors and photographers. This was a fundraising exhibition to support Lewes Football Club’s transition to a community-owned club at The Foundry Gallery, Lewes in July 2010. The students work was for sale alongside the other professional artists in the exhibition.
Tom Homewood - a film by Billy Tourle
The Young Artists United Project involved professional artists Tom Hammick, Jo Lamb, Denée Holloway, Tom Homewood and Peter Messer.
The Young Artists were Jack Bodimeade, Megan Norris, Eli Tarran-Richards, Billy Tourle and Toma Stevenson.
"The questions that Megan asked were rather perceptive, and made me think about a lot of my work in an entirely different way. The questioning was different from a buyer, or a gallery in that it was very direct and made me think…in a sense we talked as artists, and also as collaborators.." Jo Lamb, Artist
How do you do?
Starting in the spring 2012 with Priory Secondary School, Lewes, as our first project partner, How Do You Do? will connect young people with creative professionals in their community and has evolved out of the Young Artists United project.
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Life-long Learning
"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once we grow up"Picasso
If you finished school with the conviction that you were 'no good at art', Picasso's quote may seem an optimistic sentiment, though hardly relevant to you. But perhaps it¹s insight is not that we can all be 'artists' but that we all have an innate potential for open ended play; to make, to experiment, to risk, to say 'what if ?'. A way of relating to the world that was once central to early childhood learning, that for so many of us is eclipsed as we become adults.
Our belief is that whatever your age, or occupation, practical encounters with art making
and the ideas behind why others make art, can be a catalyst that reconnects us with that innate potential. It¹s something we've seen born out in the workshops we run, so we've made it a central aim of this project; to create opportunities that encourage a shift in emphasis from audience consumers to audience participants.
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Microscope activity - Nature Matters
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Eberhard Ross - Solo London Show 2010
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Eberhard Ross, Solo Exhibition, London 2010
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Art London, 2010
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Ellen Bell, Solo Exhibition, London 2011
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Ellen Bell Artist Talk, Solo Exhibition, London 2011
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Watching Four Square Films at London Art Fair, 2010
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Making Your Work Workshop, Lewes, East Sussex, 2010
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Art London, 2009
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MA Book Arts students Masterclass with Ellen Bell at Solo Exhibition, 2011
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Studying Ellen Bell's "Love", 2009
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Making Your Work Workshop, Lewes, 2010
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Marco Crivello Solo Exhibition, Air Gallery, London, 2010
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Mixed Exhibition at Cork Street, London 2009
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Marco Crivello, Artist Talk, Solo Exhibition, 2010
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London Art Fair, 2010
What researchers are saying ...
- 1. Learning through arts and culture improves attainment in all subjects.
- 2. Participation in structured arts activities increases cognitive abilities.
- 3. Students from low-income families who take part in arts activities at school are three times more likely to get a degree.
- 4. The employability of students who study arts subjects is higher and they are more likely to stay in employment.
- 5. Students who engage in the arts at school are twice as likely to volunteerand are 20% more likely to vote as young adults.
Workshops
"I hear and I forget; I see and I remember; I do and I understand."Chinese proverb
For many people the idea that they might be artistic ended, sometimes abruptly in their school years. Working with art professionals, we have developed two practical and inspiring workshops that support both adults and teachers of primary school children to explore the essential role that play and spontaneity have in the creative process.
- Creating Confidence – A one day practical workshop for primary teachers
- Making your Mark – A one day practical workshop for all ages – no art experience necessary!
Click on the images opposite to find out more about the workshops, see work created and read testimonials
"I really enjoyed the day. It was great to have the opportunity and motivation to try producing art. I'd never used pastels before and I love them: definitely want to get some to do at home. The methods were really freeing. Great to get my hands on clay. All round thank you! " - Roma
Film
Four Square Fine Arts started making films about the artists it represents in 2008. The aim of these films is to contribute to a broader understanding of contemporary art practice whilst stimulating questions about the creative process, nurturing new dialogues between artists, students and art lovers.
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Extracting Words - Writing Intimacy, Ellen Bell
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Drawing Speicher - The Space Between, Eberhard Ross
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Threshold, Marco Crivello
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Extracted Words 'Love,' Writing intimacy, Ellen Bell
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Filming in Eberhard Ross studio, Essen, Germany
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Marco Crivello in studio, Threshold
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Eberhard Ross drawing in oils, The Space Between
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Cutting text, Writing Intimacy, Ellen Bell
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Seawater moving, Threshold, Marco Crivello
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Eberhard Ross drawing in oils, The Space Between
The first in the series of Four Square Films, Hard Words, was commissioned to mark Ellen Bell's solo London show Hard Words in September 2008. The artist shares her fascination with the power and limitations of language, the paradox of formal dictionaries with fixed meanings and yet the often elusive and ambiguous nature of our experiences. A second film, Writing Intimacy was commissioned in 2011.
Threshold, focuses on Marco Crivello in the studio. For over twenty years, contemporary landscape artist Marco Crivello's work has been grounded in an exploration of improvisation. Threshold takes us into the artist's studio, with revealing footage of his improvised working methods and his creative dialogue.
Organic Geometries, features German artist Eberhard Ross. Ross painstakingly covers canvases and sheets of paper with networks of lines and pattern that develop organically in a repetitive and meditative process which he calls "organic geometry". In the apparent randomness of the lines he is searching for a quality or a non-symmetrical order as one finds in nature in the veins of plants and outlines of trees, the mass flocking of birds in the sky. In this film, Ross talks from the heart about his work, his passion for music and his wish to convey something about the wonder and order of everything in nature through his painting.
"Simply but elegantly shot and edited, these informative films confirm that modern art can be about something that matters, an authentic form of self-expression about our place in the world. Taken together as a mini-series, it¹s an approach with great educational potential."
Mark Halliley Director BBC1¹s Modern Masters - Matisse
Artist mentoring scheme
Whether you¹re still at college and need some extra help with preparing your portfolio, finishing a degree and perplexed about setting out as a professional artist, or looking to explore your creativity later in life, you may feel you need some professional support to help you take the next step.
Mentoring, over even one session, can be an ideal way to help clarify your needs and aims into a practical framework that will take you forwards, and if there is something specific we can¹t help with, we¹ll do our best to point you in the direction of someone who can.
Your insightful observations of my work, your passionate interest in what I am doing and your helpful suggestions have revived my enthusiasm! You have managed to articulate a clear and exciting path for me to explore
Beverley Purdue – Fine Art degree student
What can we offer?
Art business basics – Outside of your precious studio time, being a self employed artist means grappling with small business basics like, SOR, commission rates, invoicing, accounting, VAT, transportation, insurance etc. We can talk through any questions you have, clarify some of the basics, and of course, if we don't know the answer, we'll do our best to point you in the direction of someone who does!
Your goals – Where do you see yourself in 12 months? And importantly what will be the steps to getting there? We can work with you to set out a realistic program – including reviewing your websites, marketing and general PR strategy.
Portfolio review – Critical and constructive feedback is vital in helping develop your practise. We can arrange a studio visit or alternatively you're welcome to bring work to our office.
Selling your work – We've seen that one of the hardest things for most artists is pricing their work; With over 10 years experience exhibiting regional, national and international artists, we can help you look at the market for your work and set realistic prices.
Finding a gallery – Good trustworthy representation is crucial for your career. But what's the best approach? As a gallery we're regularly contacted by hopeful artists, so are ideally placed to show you ways to improve your chances of being considered.
Presenting your work – Poor presentation can undermine good work, which in turn can influence both sales and whether a gallery might decide to show your work. With our experience ranging from gallery shows to prestigious art fairs, we can advise ways to make the most of your presentation.
If you would like to discuss whether mentoring might help you, send us an email or alternatively call the office.
Community Aims
Our educational programme aims to support all members of the community in an enriched understanding of the diversity of creative endeavours taking place within their community. Our goal is to facilitate conversations and meetings between young people and creative professionals, enabling them to form a clearer understanding of the rapidly evolving nature of the world of work, the range of day to day skills required, as well as the non linear pathways taken by many who work in the creative sector. We believe these encounters and the projects relating to them will enable young people to approach qualifications, career choices and the future with clearer understanding and greater confidence.
We aim to develop a programme with particular emphasis on hands on practical engagement, as the ideal way to encourage new audiences across all age groups for the different creative practises in the visual arts.
Contact us
Four Square Fine Arts Education is a Community Interest Company
5a Station St, Lewes BN7 2DA
Tel: 01273 474 005
(CIC no 07649896)