A local arts organiser has been awarded grant funding for an exciting community-engagement project based in Pickering this autumn. And who might this local arts organiser be? She happens to be our very own Ms Goodwin!
Ms Goodwin applied for an Arts Council National Lottery Project Grant to run ‘Poppies in Peace’, a commemorative exhibition of children’s artwork, to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War. The activities celebrate the stories of men who returned to Ryedale from conflict a hundred years ago, but also embrace more recent stories from those taking part.
“I wanted to tell these important tales of survival, having been struck by the fact that war memorials always commemorate the fallen, not those who returned,” says Ms Goodwin. “Within a rural community like ours, the impact of war must have been huge – not just the sense of loss, but also of transformation to the communities, especially when serving men (and women) returned to the area, perhaps wounded or suffering from post-traumatic stress.”
Ms Goodwin has developed a storytelling session, based on the lives of real Pickering residents, which is now providing the inspiration for the children’s artwork. The children use the stories as a stimulus to create a piece of artwork, focusing on what the men were like when they came home and how they had been changed, so, for example, through PTSD/shell shock, limb loss, emotional changes etc. The works of art will be installed so as to create a space for reflection about the personal impact of war. This exhibition will take place at the Beck Isle Museum of Rural Life, in Pickering, and will feature artwork from all 500 youngsters this November, to coincide with the centenary . . . including work by our Junior School!
Normal museum admission charges apply, but you can enter for free on the final day, 24th November, from 10 am until 4 pm. You can find out more about the project on the website
