Salisbury Cathedral – Outreach and Workshops for ‘To Be Free’ – The Arts Society, Wessex Area

September 2023

Salisbury Cathedral – Outreach and Workshops for ‘To Be Free’ – The Arts Society, Wessex Area

We remain very grateful to The Arts Society, Wessex for their kind support of the arts workshops during our 2023 ‘To Be Free’ exhibition. I’m happy to provide the society with the following report of activities and highlights during the exhibition.

As the exhibition comes to an end, we are pleased to report that the cathedral was able to hold several inspiring workshops and craft days related to the summer show, which involved children and pupils of all ages. We also held a very successful and well-attended private view evening, several curator-led public tours, two high-profile public talks and five sermons dedicated to the important themes of the exhibition.

Our first workshops took place on the 12th and 13th July with Bemerton St John CE Primary School and Amesbury CE Primary School. We welcomed 96 year 6 pupils over the two days and 19 members of staff assisted with the workshops, including the teaching staff, art curator, volunteers and members of the clergy.

Pupils were given a tour of ‘To Be Free’ by our art curator in smaller groups and had the chance to hear about the works of art and discuss them together.

During the workshops in our education hall, the groups discussed what they had observed in the cathedral and talked about the theme of freedom. Pupils then made their own designs for ‘freedom flags’ and created them from mixed media. They were then able to share with the group the ideas behind their freedom flag and what freedom means to them.

The sessions ended with a reflection from the Dean of Salisbury and Vicar of the Cathedral Close, on the themes of art and freedom.

We held two fantastic art outreach days on the 13th and 14th September. These sessions involved A-Level students taking part in a workshop with banner maker, Ed Hall, who is well known for his famous union banners. 40 year 12 students over two days received a cathedral art tour with art curator, Beth Hughes, in which they explored the exhibition and learned about the art and artists. The students then met the artist, Ed Hall, at our education building and discussed the exhibition, its context, and their thoughts about the work. This discussion was followed by a creative design session in which all students crafted a mood board which Ed then took back to his studio to use as inspiration for ‘The Salisbury Banner’. The banner is a specially commissioned textile work for the city of Salisbury.

This banner will be a representation of the local history and community and will be on display in the Morning Chapel at the cathedral until November. The banner will belong to the cathedral for use in special events and will be cared for alongside other textiles in our archive for future generations to enjoy.

From the 1st-9th August our education team ran ‘Free as a Bird’ community clay craft sessions. The activity tied in with the themes of our summer art exhibition – freedom and liberty. Thinking about the question ‘what does freedom mean to you?’, children were able to get creative and made a clay hand which holds their own symbol of freedom. Sessions were an hour long and ran five times a day. The clay craft activities were well attended and enjoyed by all.

Younger visitors to the Cathedral were also able to explore our art exhibition and the grounds with the ‘Free as a Bird’ trail.  Children visiting could spot birds hidden around the cathedral and in the art exhibition and listen for the sounds of birds who make the building their home.

I hope this report shows how art at Salisbury Cathedral continues to thrive and connect with the local community. We are very thankful for the support of the society which has helped us to undertake so many wonderfully creative workshops.

We look forward to welcoming you the cathedral again soon.  If I can help with any further information, please do not hesitate to be in touch at j.wright@salcath.co.uk.   Jilly Wright, Development Manager