We offer a series of free resources which support groups during their visit to the Gallery. Each activity encourages pupils to engage with the artwork on display, to develop looking, speaking and listening skills.

For further information please contact Catherine James, Education Assistant

E: catherine.james@walsall.gov.uk

T: 01922 654411

If you would like to use any of these resources during your visit please request them whilst booking your visit.

Resources to support our permanent and/or temporary exhibitions:

Red and Green cards

To be used on Floors 1 & 2
• Give the pupils 3-5 minutes to look around the Gallery.
• Give each pupil one red and one green card. Green for Go, Red for No.
• Give the pupils another 3-5 minutes to go back with the cards to select their favourite artwork (green card) and least favourite artwork (red card) and place the card on the floor in front of the artwork.
• Send a child to find out which artwork has received the most green cards. Send a child to find out which artwork has received the most red cards.
• Move everyone to the most favourable piece, voted by the pupils with the green cards, and generate a discussion around this.

Teacher Discussion Notes

To be used on all Floors

-Available on a variety of themes in our Garman Ryan Collection and Temporary Exhibitions.

-Information on the artists, helping teachers to engage pupils in discussion

-Great resource for self-guided visits to the Gallery

Materials upon request

To be used on all Floors

-We can provide simple art materials such as pencils, colouring pencils, paper and clipboards.

-A great resource to encourage your pupils to sketch and make notes during their visit.

Resources to support on Floors 1 & 2 only:

Modelling material (plasticine)

To be used in the Main Hall, Floor 1
• Modelling material will be ready for you to collect from the Floor identified on your timetable
• Ask each pupil to take one ball of modelling material
• Ask each pupil to select a sculpted head in the gallery to recreate in modelling material. Show the pupils how to begin with shape of the head, then use the modelling tools and their fingers to sculpt by pinching, moulding, scraping, pressing.
• Encourage students to walking around their chosen sculpture to be able to effectively model in 3D.
• Take photos of the sculptures and the children for your own use at school
• Please roll the modelling material back into balls and replace in the container, ready for the next group to use.

Teacher-led activities

Weather reports

To be used in the Landscape Room, Floor 1
• Give everyone 2-3minutes to look at the paintings in the landscape room on Floor 1
• Ask them to select their favourite and stand by it
• Ask them to really look at their chosen artwork and think about such things as– what’s going on? What’s the weather like? How do you know what the weather is like? What colours have been used? What does this tell you? What kind of marks has the artist used? What’s the atmosphere?
• Turn everyone back in to face the room
• Ask pupils to recreate a weather report for the landscape painting they have chosen. Select individual pupils at a time and ask them to give a weather report back on their painting. Be light hearted – is it a great weekend for gardeners? Do they need to put fleece on their plants tonight? Will we need sun cream in the next few days? Are there any flood warnings to give?

What Can Art Be

To be used on Floor 2
• Have a look over the room on Floor 2
• Divide your group into 4 equal groups
• Give each group a focus to look at :
o content/subject matter in the work and Leisure room
o materials used and Skill/techniques in the still life room
o Feelings/atmosphere in the artwork in the Religion room
o Describe the personality of the people in Children’s portrait room
• Ask the pupils to present back what has been explored to the whole group

Creative Industries

To be used on Floor 2, Work and Leisure room
• Give the pupils 3-5 minutes to look around the room. Choose an artwork and get to know that artwork.
• Ask them to think about what artistic careers and hobbies might be linked to that artwork. It could be in the artwork itself or the content of the artwork
o For example:
o Millet, Woman Carding Wool. You could think textile designer, yarn designer, felter, knitwear designer, pattern designer, textile factory worker, period drama actress, cottage industry worker.
• Ask each pupil to create a mindmap of their ideas.
• Share each others ideas to understand the breadth of careers that are possible from an art education.

Animal Conversations

To be used in the Animal room, Floor 1
• Give everyone 2-3 minutes to look at the animals in the animal room on Floor 1
• Ask then to select their favourite and stand by it
• Ask them to really look at their chosen animal. Ask them to image they are that animal in the gallery – What is the animal’s expression, what’s their personality, what are they thinking, what mood are they in? Make sure it relates to their animal in their current position in the art gallery.
• Put the group into pairs (number them 1,1,2,2,3,3… )
• Each pair of animals are going to have a conversation. How does the personality of the animal impact on what they say? For example the frog in the case could be talking to the cat on the windowsill saying how please he was to be in the shade in the case rather than having the sun on his back like the cat, his biggest problem was having difficulty breathing as the air in the case was running out after all these years….. The conversation is not about making animal noises.
• Choose some pairs to present some of the conversations back to the group. Be light hearted, this is great way to get pupils laughing in the gallery.

Creative Writing

To be used on Floor 1 Portraits or Floor 2 Childrens Portraits
• Choose a portrait.
• Imagine you are this person. How are you feeling? Where are you? What has happened to you? Where did it happen?
• Tell us your story…

Looking at the Building
Consider:
• Use of different materials, wall claddings, use of glass, floor coverings
• Use of positive and negative spaces
• Relative volumes of spaces through the building
• How the public use the different spaces
• How to travel through the building
• Maintenance of the space
• How could this be developed differently?
• Compare the exterior of the building to its interior use