Tuesday 11 November 2014

Getting creative in the Yurts with Stanhope Youth Group

After warming up in the cosy big Lapwing Yurt the members of Stanhope Youth Group were ready to get creative....

Mair and Bridget had set up the yurts with various weird and wonderful contraptions, here is what it looked like before the creative chaos began....


Tentatively the budding young artists explored the drawing tools that were on hand...




And then the fun began.....the young people began to make their mark on the communal drawing wall using the drawing tools provided as well as making their own..


A particularly fine sculptural head dress / drawing tool!


It was lovely to see groups working together, discussing and thinking through ideas, problem solving, but above all having fun..


Its amazing what you can do with some string, a pulley and some paint...


And then the sun came out and we moved outside for a finale performance of a rather explosive nature!!


A huge thank you to the volunteers who accompanied the young people on this splendid day and to Killhope for being so generous in providing the beautiful Lapwing yurt for us to use as our communal studio. We would also like to say thank you to Weardale Area Action Partnership for their generous support and last but not least the young people who came along and made it such a wonderful day of discovery and colourful fun.....................





October 5th 2014: Stanhope Youth Group visit Killhope

Finally, the day arrived when young people from Stanhope and the surrounding Weardale area visited Killhope in the company of visual artists Mair Hughes and Bridget Kennedy.

It was Sunday 5th October, not a great day weather wise, but 12 plucky members of St Thomas Church Youth Group made the journey up to Killhope to see what creative delights awaited them.....

First Mair and Bridget showed them round parts of the museum, pointing out the use of tools and machines in the daily lives of the men who worked at the lead mine over 150 years ago.


In the Blacksmiths shop they explored a more creative use of the old tongs on display!


Looking at Killhope Wheel and thinking about how water powered the machines in the Jigger House.

Then getting the feel for both over shot and undershot wheel power around the site...


The Buddle House became a temporary movie theatre to help show how contemporary artists use machines in their creative work.