Pupils from Bucksburn Academy visit the Balmoral Phenomenon gallery
Visit Aberdeen Art Gallery on a Tuesday morning and instead of the usual hush, you’re quite likely to be met by the sounds of happy and inquisitive school pupils who are taking part in a new programme introducing them to portraiture. Together with the National Gallery and Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum we are being supported by the William Syston Foundation Travel Fund to help make our collections more accessible to schools by covering the costs of bus travel for their visits. Many of the pupils we’ve been working with have additional support needs, and have never been to an art gallery before. Without this tailored approach and the valuable support from the William Syson Foundation, some might have never visited.
Why portraiture? We see images of people everywhere in our daily lives - whether it’s family photos, ID cards or Instagram selfies, they all convey ideas about ourselves, identity and emotion. The Art Gallery has the most amazing collection of portraiture on display. In Gallery 1 you can see the Macdonald portraits, a selection from 94 portraits commissioned by the local granite merchant Alexander Macdonald in 1878. In Gallery 18 you’ll see contemporary work by Martin Parr, a photographer whose work blurs the boundaries between commercial and fine art imagery.
Portrait of Queen Victoria by Herbert Luther Smith
On a Tuesday morning in the Balmoral Phenomenon gallery you might see a group seated around the huge portrait of Queen Victoria, painted by Herbert Luther Smith in 1848. During a visit, pupils are invited to bring artworks to life through the senses using touch, sound, smell and sight. As the national anthem rings out through the gallery, they handle paint brushes and feel the texture of velvet, pearls, satin and lace. They then go on to create artworks using printing and photography or with paint and collage. These experiences are as much about experimenting, talking, exploring materials and equipment as they are about making art.
We feel so very proud and privileged to welcome these young people to the Art Gallery and hope their experience with us will inspire more trips, both with school and with their families.
