Jupiter Artland

The autumn term has been very full and busy so far. We have had visits from Fettes AS level groups, SEASONS mental health group, Anniesland College, Telford College, Clifton Hall, Project Scotland management team, Queen Margaret’s University art therapists group, Morrison’s Academy S2 classes, Napier College, St John the Baptist Primary School, Whitburn Academy, St George’s and Inveralmond High School.

Elderberry Rorschach Prints

Some of these schools came for inspiration and a starting point for projects and the drawings and photographs they made at Jupiter will fill their sketchbooks. Other groups came to engage with the artworks through hands on workshops. We used the work of Cornelia Parker both at Jupiter as well as generally as a basis for several of these workshops. The berry Rorschach workshops were fun and also informative. We looked at toxic and non toxic berries around the artland and used the non poisonous berries to make the prints with as well as learning about their culinary uses.

Hanging Fire After Cornelia Parker

The October Artsparks 2 day course during half term was led by Davina Richardson and she used Cornelia Parker’s work to inspire the course. The course was fun and inspiring with budding artists responding enthusiastically and creating some wonderful pieces for the end of course show.

Little Sparks

Izzie Chappel's Tuesday Little Spark classes continue to be great fun and inspiring - next term's block only has a couple of places left in the afternoon so get booked in!

August saw the launch of our preschool classes at Jupiter. "Little Sparks" is a morning and afternoon weekly session which makes the most of all the wonderful outdoor space at Jupiter to explore nature and art. Alongside the outdoor activities there are singing sessions, imaginative play, drama and stories inside our woodland classroom which help to develop preschool skills. Little Sparks is led by Izzie Chappell and we are so pleased by the lovely emails with great comments and feedback - thank you. 

Charles Jencks' landforms inspired a very busy August Artsparks, we explored the landforms and the ideas behind them and then created our own in clay, plaster and earth. Alongside this we made the most of the glorious flowers in the Jupiter garden and did some botanical watercolours after Elizabeth Blackadder. 

As part of our Edinburgh Arts Festival events we offered 3 drop in days at Jupiter. Based on artists in the Jupiter collection children joined lively workshops which were messy and inspiring.

A very able and enthusiastic group of young artists joined Davina Richardson and Ruth Burgon for our July Artsparks course. Using Marc Quinn's Love Bomb as inspiration they created large scale collage and drawings as well as some sculptural works and had lots of fun too.

Richard Long inspired mud printing by Dean Park Primary School

June was a very busy month and we had visits from Flora Stevenson Primary, Cargilfield Preprep, Dean Park Primary, Musselburgh Primary, Kilgraston, Harmeny House and St Kentigern's Academy.  We hosted an award ceremony for our Duke of Edinburgh group from Balerno High School and also a first year birthday party for the Family Nurse Partnership whose artist in residence, Natalie Taylor, has run workshops at Jupiter. Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's Minister for Health joined the celebration of this wonderful organisation's first year in Scotland.

Cargilfield P3s with their minimounds in the Woodland Classroom Garden.

Richard Irving and Francesca de Vlugt of the Duke of Edinburgh organisation presenting a Balerno pupil with their award.

May saw visits from West Lothian College, Loretto School, Broomhouse School and Artlink amongst the preparations for the Artland opening to the public. Broomhouse Primary had not visited before and were very interested in seeing Shane Waltener's work as they have commissioned him to do a willow work in their grounds which the children worked on with him. 

A Loretto pupil in Andy Goldsworthy's Coppice Room

Huge thanks to the Green Team volunteers who worked with Richard Irving at Jupiter on fencing, woodland clearance and the planting of a huge amount of young holly early in the season.

Early in the summer term Jupiter visited Juniper Green Primary School to see the work they had been doing on the book of stories which they created which were inspired by  Artland Sculpture which have since been published and are for sale in the shop. Sandy Duncan, owner and managing director of Drummond Park, Scotland's largest games company came along too to advise the group on a board game they have been developing based on Jupiter. He gave them some wonderful ideas and feedback on the project so far and the games will be on sale in the Jupiter shop next season.

Award winning slam poet Ash Dickinson worked with two groups of advanced Higher pupils from James Young High School and Balerno High School. He performed some of his own work as a starting point which is a combination of rap and conventional poetry purely designed for performance. The students wrote some excellent poetry and put on their own slam to culminate the day.

Cakes are an essential ingredient for a good slam verse!

A very sweet group of tinies visited from Cowgate Council Nursery this week. The sun shone and we had a lovely walk followed by an Andy Goldsworthy inspired workshop.

Richard the Head Gardener led a group of Green Team volunteers who planted 239 ivy plants, an enormous undertaking and so helpful at one of our busiest times - many thanks to the Green Team. We have continued to work with Juniper Green this term and their project is getting close to completion - more to follow. Tom Flint at Napier University has been helping us develop our visitor experience as have Mark Daniels of Inspace and Susan Humble at Artlink. Many thanks too to Bryonny our intern from Edinburgh University who has been working very hard over the winter with all sorts of projects.

St Paul's Primary School from East Calder visited to create autobiographical felt and text pieces after Tracey Emin. Over two visits they worked incredibly hard and produced a felt image with some fabric text all reflecting something about themselves.

St Kentigern's Academy from Blackburn visited for the first time and the S3 group had a tour and did some sketching.

Cargilfield P1s visited and had a lovely day looking at the work of artist Richard Long. We did a Richard Long circular walk which was recorded in a multisensory form on paper. Lots of muddy hand and finger printing resulted in a group slate sculpture.

February News

A willing and able group of Duke of Edinburgh Bronze award volunteers got involved with all sorts of gardening and sculpture maintenance tasks at Jupiter for the whole of the spring term. Many thanks to them and we look forward to seeing them back here for their awards ceremony in June.

Heriots advanced higher group visited to look around and to seek inspiration for their project on portrait drawing. Cornelia Parker's Landscape Gun and Tree provided a good starting point with its reference to Gainsborough's famous 18th century portrait of Mr and Mrs Andrews. Jim Lambie's reflective A Forest was also a big hit!

Education at Jupiter closed at the end of November 3 days before snow started to fall! The second half of term was busy, busy, busy!

The Duke of Edinburgh group from Balerno High School started up again in October and Richard Irving our head gardener led them in skills activities ranging from path building to planting bulbs to create a sculpture!

A big group from St John’s Primary School visited and had a tour which they all thoroughly enjoyed. We hope to see them back to do a workshop next time.

St Paul’s Primary School came to start their series of four visits which are going on over the next term. We made a “magic carpet” in the first week and then did a Richard Long inspired walk and mud printing workshop the next time.

Leith School of Art and Napier University Interactive Creative Design Course visited to have a look around. We hope to run a project with Napier where they will help us to design interactive media for use in the Artland.

The advanced higher English class from James Young High School, Livingston came to Jupiter and wrote wonderful mesostic poems in response to the sculpture.

   

 Three classes of St George's P5s visited and did workshops in response to the works by Andy Goldsworthy and Jim Lambie.

                              

Other educational visits this autumn term have been from Clifton Hall School as part of their John Muir Award, Telford College BTEC Art and Design group to have a lecture and tour and Anniesland College of Art too.  Ardvreck School visited for a tour around as well as Edinburgh University 3^rd year architects as part of their gallery space project.  Harmeny House did an inservice day here on a sunny September day.

Our project with Juniper Green Primary School continues and their excellent editorial team visited to discuss publishing the stories they have written about Jupiter and further website ideas.

 Wester Coates Nursery visited on a blustery October day. They created  "Applemen" outlines  on the colourful background of the Zobop floor.

                           

Woodmill High School from Dunfermline visited and their lovely advanced higher group did a clay twig workshop and had a tour around the Artland in its autumn glory.

Just before half term Napier University general design first years and the Glasgow School of Art sculpture and environmental art 3rd years (alumni include Nathan Coley and Jim Lambie) visited for lectures on and tours of the Artland.

Bryony Farrant-Davis has joined us as an intern from Edinburgh University's History of Art Department. She is doing an Msc in Modern Art: History, Curation and Criticism and  will get involved with all aspects of life at Jupiter Artland from our archiving to helping with educational activities.

Loretto Sculpture Day

We visited Loretto school to take part in their sculpture focus day. Nicky Wilson gave a lecture on the formation of Jupiter Artland and afterwards there was an interesting Q and A where careers in art were discussed. We also saw an installation by one of their A level students inspired by Andy  Goldsworthy’s work at Jupiter.

 

     

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Over the last four months we have had an enormous range of workshops and educational visits here at Jupiter Artland.

This image is by Silvy Weatherall of the magic carpet that the Shawhead primary school made on their visit.

Juniper Green primary school visits Jupiter Artland - image by Juniper Green primary school.

Juniper Green primary school visits Jupiter Artland - image by Juniper Green primary school.

George Heriot’s
George Heriot’s School launched their own week long Arts Festival in October and we were very proud to be invited to be part of it. We held a family day on Saturday the 15th of October. A large number of people visited and walked around before enjoying coffee and cake next to wood burning stove in the Proposals room.

Later that week the sixth form art students from Heriots visited and had a guided tour.

Juniper Green workshop on shane walteners work - image by Juniper Green school.

Nether Currie primary school visit - image by Nether Currie primary school.

This image is by Silvy Weatherall of the magic carpet that the Shawhead primary school made on their visit.

This image is by Silvy Weatherall of the magic carpet that the Shawhead primary school made on their visit.