Consultation Studio

Ikon Gallery and Creative Partnerships Black Country, Birmingham (June 2006 – March 2007)

Following a discussion between staff at Ikon Gallery and Four Dwellings High School (now an academy) I was approached to facilitate a project that involved students, teachers and community users of the site in exploring the redesign and use of the spaces in and around the school. In response I opened a Consultation Studio in a spare classroom for one week and worked with a core team of twelve Year 10 students to to discover more about the often-overlooked qualities and spaces within their school that they would like to retain in the future. Together we collected a range of data about their casual encounters and daily habits at Four Dwellings and anecdotes about how their peers and the wider school community occupy the school. .

As well as receiving training about the built environment and design processes the Consultation Team met an architect, visited Ikon Gallery, consulted their peers and school staff. At the end of the week they presented their proposals to other students and the Headmaster. One teacher observed ‘The pupils are developing their imagination, speaking skills, and listening skills – everyone’s ideas are respected…’  In addition I created and permanently installed Four Dwellings Farm wallpaper, a bespoke design for the school which was inspired by the students’ relationship with a tree in their school grounds and their concerns to what would happen with it in the future.

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Read my case study about the process of making Four Dwellings Farm Wallpaper. 

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For further documentation of the wallpaper please follow this link. 

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This project was included as a case study in Artists and Schools, published by Ikon Gallery, ISBN 310985631.