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The Artists in Residence (AiR) project was founded in 2018 by award-winning teacher Andria Zafirakou.
With a mission to bring high-quality artist residencies to schools across the UK, it offered students a chance to develop practical art skills and gain an insight into what a career in the arts may look like. It also offered teachers the opportunity for professional development and to help to raise the profile of the arts within their school.
In this resource, we bring you a selection of some of the fantastic AiR resources created by artists and teachers. Use them to inspire creative activities in the classroom or at home!
Op Art was an art movement that began in the 1960s. Short for 'optical art', Op Art describes the work of artists such as Bridget Riley who experimented with shapes and colours to create 3D effects or the impression of movement.
Have a go at creating your very own Op Art artwork. (You can find out more about Op Art in our Bridget Riley and Op Art learning resource.)
Create colourful plastic designs
Inspired by stained glass windows, discover how to use PVA glue and food colouring to make vibrant plastic designs. Use them to decorate windows or mirrors… What will you do with yours?
Paint with recycled plastic
In this video resource, Andria shows you how to experiment with melting recycled plastics, using an iron to create textured, abstracted landscapes. (Students will need adult supervision for this activity.)
Watch and make with Mrs Darlington
Primary school teacher Mrs Darlington has lots of fun craft activity ideas for the very young.
In this activity, she shows you how to get creative with toilet roll tubes and transform the everyday into a colourful flower painting or design. You can explore more activities on her YouTube channel.
Gomersal Primary School
Discover art activity ideas for the classroom with these brilliant blogs from Gomersal Primary School.
You can explore more of Gomersal's activity ideas for the classroom on Blogspot.
Colour-mixing and Monet
Be inspired by Impressionist painter Claude Monet and experiment with colours and mark-making. Visit the blog to find out how!
Investigate buildings in your local town or city and experiment with printing and drawing techniques to create cityscapes. Introduce students to perspective and encourage them to look at architectural details.
Top tip! Use this resource for cross-curricular study with geography.
Create large-scale mixed media drawings inspired by artists Leonardo da Vinci and Jean Michel Basquiat. Use paint and charcoal to experiment with gestural lines and marks.
Experimental drawing inspired by da Vinci and Basquiat
Projects designed by artists
Emma Jackson / Story Drawing Club
Make a monoprint
Monoprints are a great way to create simple prints and give your drawings an extra dimension.
In this video, artist Emma Jackson of Story Drawing Club shows you how to monoprint with just a few basic materials.
How to draw a self-portrait
Do you want to draw portraits but are not sure where to start?
Learn the basics of how to draw a self-portrait, with tips and technique suggestions from Emma.
Sarah Pimenta: Make a block pattern with vegetables
In this activity, artist Sarah Pimenta of Socal Fabric shows you how to use vegetables to design and print colourful shapes and patterns. You can see more of Sarah's work on Instagram.
Pragyar Kumar: Simple weaving projects
Prgayar Kumar is the lead artist of Artiday, an organisation that builds creative communities. Follow these simple instructions to weave a colourful flower picture and a practical coaster.
Let's Make Art is an independent arts organisation run by Karen Davies and Alice Hendy in Bristol, UK. For this activity, they show you how to create a beautiful flower garland, suitable for any occasion, from found and recycled materials.
From making a Pop Art-style ice cream to using dried pasta to create a convincing-looking fossil fish, Darrell's brilliant 'art jump start' ideas are easy to make from the stuff in your recycling bin!
Zine comes from the word magazine. Zines can be comic books or short story books, but in this video activity, illustrator Hannah Botma takes you through the steps for making a mini recipe book. You can see more of Hannah's work on Instagram.
Andrew Hammond: Create your own comic character
Andrew Hammond is an author, illustrator and comic book whiz.
In this video, he shares his tips for creating your very own comic book character.
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