Category Archives: lanterns

Celebration time

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Today was the end of the School Arts Partnership project with the National Trust at Morden Hall Park. I was the lead artist for the whole school year, and today we had an exhibition to celebrate, featuring the lovely paintings the children made in the park in May,

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and the lanterns from the floating lantern festival last November,

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as well as the mosaics we made last term. Then all the children from the two schools involved – Wimbledon Chase Primary and Cricket Green special needs school in Mitcham – wrote their memories of the project on a postcard and tied them to a tree with a ribbon:

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In the evening Wimbledon Chase Primary School organised a special event for parents, also attended by the press and the Mayor of Merton, to mark the end of the project. It was a lovely evening – there was a documentary film, poems and singing, and then I had to sign autographs! A great way to finish the project – thanks to everyone involved.

Wandle Lantern Festival

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Nearly 100 lanterns floated down the Wandle at dusk in Morden Hall Park as a celebration of the term’s work with the School Arts Partntership between Wimbledon Chase Primary, Cricket Green School in Mitcham and the National Trust. The weather was perfect, cold and clear, and in the end the filming of the new Stephen Poliakoff drama at the Snuff Mill didn’t interfere too much, though it was funny to see actors in 1940s clothing wandering about. Delicious pumpkin soup made by the students at Cricket Green warmed everyone up afterwards. Thanks to Erica, John and Zigi for their invaluable help getting the lanterns out of the water again at the end, and to Nick for these photos, and especially to all the children who took part for making such beautiful lanterns.

Wandle lantern project

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I have been making prototype lanterns and testing them ready for a special project with Wimbledon Chase primary and Cricket Green school in Mitcham. The workshops will be at Morden Hall Park as part of the National Trust’s School Arts Partnership scheme.

Over the next few weeks the children involved in the project will be creating their own individual lanterns and decorating with designs inspired by the park environment, ready for a special ceremony on 25th November when the lanterns will be floated on the river Wandle at dusk, inspired by Japanese lantern festivals.

Today I tested the lanterns on the river, assisted by volunteers from the Wandle Trust.