GCSE Art students find inspiration in London

GCSE London Art Tour
This year’s GCSE art trip was a very action-packed two days. On day one, the students discovered that The Natural History museum, Science Museum and V&A are treasure troves and the groups split to make the most of the time to sketch and take photographs for their sketchbooks. After a few hours of intense exploration and a spot of lunch, they explored the more contemporary works of the Saatchi museum. The current exhibition features a number of up and coming artists whose varied and experimental ways of working gave the students lots of ideas. The evening was spent singing along to Abba songs at the internationally acclaimed production of Mamma Mia at the Novello theatre.

Day two started with a hearty breakfast followed by Mr Vale’s magical mystery tour of the City and its iconic buildings. The group climbed the 311 steps of Monument Tower to be met at the top by gale force winds! Next was the Tate Modern via Borough market and the Cutty Sark to see the Alexander Calder exhibition, a fantastic collection of the late Kinetic artist’s sculptures. The permanent collections gave the opportunity to see a wide variety of artists’ works. The river boat to Embankment gave students the opportunity to rest their legs and view the city from the water. After lunch, a busy afternoon was spent viewing the amazing collections at the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar Square. Seeing so many famous works reaffirmed the point that there really is no substitute for seeing works of art “in the flesh”. The students returned with heads spinning full of ideas and hundreds of photos and sketches to process. The results of the students’ work will be exhibited for all to see at the annual Summer Art exhibition in June, we hope to see you there!