FALMER'S TOY STORY 2006/2007

STUDENT EXHIBITION DATES: 28th Nov 2006 - 9th January 2007

Throughout October and November the Toy Museum has been working with Falmer High School's GCSE Applied Art Group on a Big Draw project. The outcome of this project will be an exhibition at the Museum which will be designed, installed and organised by the students. They will be responsible for designing the leaflets and posters and for sending out the invites for their private view. The exhibition will be of the artwork they produce while working with the Museum.

First Visit to the School

Members of the Education Group spent the day at Falmer High School with the Art group. They discussed the project with the students and began looking at the different areas toys cover, such as childhood, memories and play. This led on to some great group discussions about the differences between toys today compared to those in the past, and the things which can effect childhood and play such as divorce, poverty, disability and war.

The second part of the day included a presentation of toys from the Museum's Education collection by the Education Officer. The presentation included many different types of toys including robots, puppets, trains and teddy bears. A handling session followed and the students got the opportunity to sketch the toys and started to look at the colours of the objects and how they were made.

Visit to the Museum

The students' visit to the Museum was certainly one of the highlights of this project.
The students were given plenty of opportunities to do sketches and take photographs to help with the development of their artwork. However, it was the special presentation and handling session which really engaged the students. While they were in the Museum the Education Officer was able to show them larger and rarer objects including a Japanese doll, and Punch and Judy puppets from the 1800s. The students also got the opportunity to look at the different marionette puppets in the Museum and how they were made including Rosie the pink dragon and Rooster the Chinese dragon!

It was an enjoyable day for all, with some of the students already talking about coming back to visit the Museum.

Second visit to the School

click poster for printable enlargement

The second visit to the school gave the Education group the opportunity to work with the students on the development of their artwork. Most of the students had decided to make puppets, so the Museum staff were able to help with ideas and provide technical support. More items were brought in from the Museum including puppets, robots and dolls for students to sketch and use as guidelines for how the toys were made. On this visit the students also began designing the exhibition leaflets and invitations as well as planning the private view with the Museum staff. Guest lists and publicity were also discussed.

The final task of the day was to decide on name for the exhibition. After a
light-hearted discussion and some group work a title was finally agreed on…………. Falmer's Toy Story.

Falmer's Toy Story exhibition: 28th Nov 2006 - 9th January 2007