Calling all parents with kids who love stories and art!
Blog written by Sarah Bennett
The madly mischievous Lord of Misrule, the rightfully regal Coronation Queen and a magical, unfinished painting are coming to the Yorkshire Festival of Story this weekend. But how does the painting end? Nobody knows…. yet!
The Marvellous Art Workshop runs on Sunday 9th August from 11-11:20. It is part of our Story Garden series with Blossom and Twig. Book your place here.
We caught up with Josh from Ragtag Arts, who is running the workshop, to find out more.
Hi, Josh! You’ll be doing our Marvellous Art Workshop. Could you give us a sneak preview into it?
Well, Marvellous Art is an immersive art and theatre project that we started developing last summer with the help from GPLD. We had hoped to be taking it live to festivals this year but when Covid-19 hit we decided to use it as the basis to develop some creative online classes for children during lockdown, and we’ve been doing that every week since. We were really excited when you asked us to create something specifically for Yorkshire Festival of Story and we had so much fun taking our characters on some new adventures. I don’t want to give too much away but it all starts with an unfinished painting of the Coronation Queen and her Lord of Misrule. But there is something magical about this painting and when we decide to finish it something unexpected happens!
Could you tell us a little about what got you into running arts workshops, and why you think art is so important?
I always wanted to be an artist ever since I was at school. My art homework always took precedence over every other subject! When I finished school, I studied Fine Art at university, and I loved it but I also struggled with how sometimes Fine Art can seem like it’s only for a certain type of person. and so I decided I wanted to make art and run workshops that everyone could enjoy. I love that there is no right and wrong with Art and that everyone has the power of creativity if they search for it. I love helping people search in lots of different ways.
If you had the power to display a piece of art for the public, what would you put, where would you put it, and why?
Wow – now that’s a question! Well, I love creating worlds that we can explore, I’m a firm believer in art as play, I also love climbing things. So I think it would need to be in a playground. I love to make a sculpture made from all recycled materials that we can also climb on and play in, too. Maybe that others can add to as well!
Can you sum up Marvellous Art in 5 words?
Silly. Fun. Magic. Imaginative. Exploration.
Book your free place on the Marvellous Art Workshop
