We're here in Jarrow, at the third stop
on Constable Visits, and we've been working with
South Shields Museum, part of Tyne and Wear
Museums and Archives. South Tyneside is a
really vibrant borough. It's quite a
small borough, but there's a huge amount
going on,
right across across the scene, so from
Hebburn and Jarrow, where we are today,
South Shields, and also down the
coast - Whitburn, Boldon and Cleadon. When
the National Gallery got in touch about
this project, we were so excited about it,
really blown away, because obviously it's
such a well-known painting, one
of the nation's favorites, and to think
that we could bring that to South
Tyneside, particularly, you know, not just
to an art gallery or museum setting, but
into the community, into the high
street, into a vacant shop like we have
here. This fantastic painting, it's of
Constable's walk to school. He's actually,
he's in his late 40s, about to turn 50 when he
paints it, and he's actually in London, so
a lot of it is built up from his memory
and his experiences. And the more you
look, the more you see, there's all sorts
of things going on. So, it's a really
sensory picture, you know, we've got the
little boy, he's hot, he's having a cold
drink of water, we've got lots of animals,
we've got the dog, we've got sheep,
they'll be bleating, we've got the
fantastic donkeys, we've got birds, we've
got butterflies, we've got the wind in
the trees. There's so much going on in
there, and we can really sort of bring
the painting to life through these
sensory elements. And in wanting to do
that, is when we came across the
fantastic Sensory Journeys that South
Shields Museum have been working on.
It wasn't until Covid that I started a
programme that was aimed at families and
and audiences that have special
educational needs and disabilities or
profound multiple learning disabilities.
So I wanted to come up with a programme
where
people could access the museum
collections without actually having to
be in the museum,
and laying on top of that,
the ability to experience those artworks
in a different way, so,
sensory, using sight and smell and taste
and touch. And in order to do that, I came
up with this idea of Sensory Journeys.
If we have to think now about our senses, if
we were in this situation, what sort of
things would you smell? Sheep! Sheep, yeah, okay!
You might smell the grass.
Grass smell, good, okay.
If you were the dog, Lauren, and
you're going through the water, just go
through the water.
And, breathe out.
What do you think you might hear?
What might you see?
The benefit of sensory engagement is
allowing audiences to access art in a
way that they couldn't, which creates a
connection with the artwork that
wouldn't necessarily be there. Most
people look at something and spend a few
seconds on it and walk away, and if you
have a disability, it's even harder for
you possibly to engage.
[Music]
We just knew we absolutely had to partner
with them to bring these sensory
elements of the picture to life for
everyone, to use their fantastic
expertise to really open up and invite
everyone to enjoy the sensory elements
of this picture with us.
So, this morning, we had Bamburgh School in,
they're a special school, and many of them
don't get an opportunity to
leave the area, so for them to be able to
come into this space and to see a
painting of national importance was an
amazing experience for them. We use
sensory engagement to help them really
put themselves into the scene, and to be
able to make connections to their own
lives, to maybe landscapes that we've
walked through, and it was just wonderful
to see them smile and to really engage
with the picture and understand what was
going on, beyond just looking at it.
And one of the most interesting things and, I
think, important things from today's
workshop, was that we had a child who was
non-verbal, and she spoke! And when we
were talking about what would you say if
you were the farmer at midday,
she actually raised her hand, and said,
'I would just raise my hand and say hi', so
we know that this is successful, we know
that she engaged with the picture and
she really enjoyed what she was doing,
and that's what's really important.
So, these paintings, you know, at the
National Gallery, they don't belong to
the National Gallery, they belong to
absolutely all of us, they belong to the
people of the United Kingdom, so it's
really, really important to us that there
is access for people all across the UK.
We learn so much about our paintings,
as well, when we bring them out, you know
the amount of knowledge that
all of our local audiences bring to
these artworks, as well, really brings them
to life in a different way.