A design project with St Anthony’s Children's House and Ear4U groups from Action for Children
Design Brief
To work with a metal worker and jewellery designer to create a personalised bronze coin, inspired by the collections in the Shipley’s Designs for Life gallery.
Ideas and Inspiration
The young people visited the Shipley Art Gallery and worked with the collections in the Designs for Life gallery and the handling collection to gain ideas and inspiration for their work.
The group visited Davison Tyne Metals Ltd, a local foundry dating back to the 18th century, to gain an understanding of the casting process. They then participated in the design and manufacturing process of carving, casting and hand-finishing their bronze coins.
Designer Input
The young people worked with professional jewellery designer Tessa Holland over 5 sessions during half term to help them design and create their bronze coins.
Timeframe
Every young person who took part in this project had the opportunity to:
• Participate in a Design for Life workshop at the Shipley Art Gallery, which involved; sketching, taking photographs and object handling.
• Visit Davison Tyne Metal foundry.
• Participated in practical sessions led by a designer.
• Design and produce a bronze coin for display in an exhibition at the V&A Museum, London.
Methods and Materials
The young people worked first on paper, then carved into Plaster-of-Paris. They took wax impressions from the plaster, refining these with wax-working techniques, and sent them off to be cast.
The young people worked again with the designer to refine and finish their bronze coins.
Outcomes
The young peoples work was subsequently displayed at the Shipley Art Gallery in the Designs for Life Gallery and at the V&A Museum, London during Spring 2010.
All the young people involved in the project attended a young people’s conference at the V&A Museum, London.
Each bronze coin represented something special to each participant:
[each quote to go under image of coin]
Hitting the Target
‘This coin represents how I feel about how to move forward in life. When I play football I feel free and feel like I have hit the target.’
Brandon, aged 12
People I Admire
‘This coin represents the people I admire and think a lot of. The names cast in the coins are family and famous people.’
Emily, aged 15
Textures
‘When I designed this coin I was thinking about what would make it stand out, it was not just about the image but more about the textures.’
Emily, aged 15
Walks of Life
‘My inspiration for this idea was carbon footprints. The footprint in the centre represents the human carbon footprint. It is surrounded by animal footprints. The human footprint is larger because we produce the largest carbon footprint.’
Thomas, aged 12
Fish
‘To create this piece I doodled and sketched my design on large pieces of paper. I transferred this image to plaster then wax. I like the design because it is simple.’
Thomas, aged 12