Creative Writer, Johnny Woodhams, delivered sessions covering different aspects of the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art Collection, encouraging expression and thinking in relation to thoughts and feelings. Pupils learned about the artists in the Collection, as well as their lived experience and what led them to their practice.
Each session linked to one of the Outsider artists and their work, especially those who were considered particularly relevant to the project and pupils interests. The pupils worked with different materials and techniques, such as wrapping wool, sewing or collage. They added words to the visual work.
Gallery staff developed a number of questionnaires, covering a cross section of emotional and mental well-being and health. They wanted the work to fit in with the national curriculum, covering areas such as Citizenship, Art and Design and English.
The Whitworth is committed to the concept of the ‘useful museum’ with a civic agenda to promote art as a tool for impacting on the world. The gallery holds the largest public collection of Outsider Art in the UK, the Musgrave Kinley Outsider Art collection.
