Theale Green Community School & Toni Robinson
Theale Green Community School near Reading have been working with artist Toni Robinson on a project that aimed to inspire young artists to create imaginative large scale artwork and help them learn more about what is involved in the creative process, from conception to sale. The ‘world of work’ formed the starting point for a visual investigation by a group of Year 10 Art students who also drew inspiration from a group of Year 10 Dance Students, who were working to produce a contemporary dance on the same topic. The project has concluded in a set of large scale paintings, drawings and relief panels.
Toni Robinson is a Swindon based artist who divides her working life between her studio practice and her participatory arts partnership ‘No Added Sugar’. Being a very sociable person, she thrives on the interaction art creates both in participatory work, and in her studio based portrait work. Her subjects are a collection of interesting people she meets in her day-to-day life, convincing even total strangers to come and sit for her. Listening to people’s life stories and attempting to capture the ‘thing’ that attracted her to them in the first place is an important aspect of her work.