Child-led Artistic Exploration with Lucy Turner
‘Once you’re through the doors of The Whitworth, it’s such an amazing space that you can’t help but want to come back.’ Lucy Turner, is the Early Years Coordinator at The Whitworth Gallery Manchester. Her renowned work includes the creation of the Early Years Atelier (or children’s art studio), where children are provided with a rich, sensory, hands-on experience of artistic exploration inspired by the Art in the gallery. Artists and musicians are brought in to collaborate. Children and parents have free access to a wonderful space to grow and explore through a child-led approach to learning. During lockdown, Lucy has provided weekly activities online for children and parents to take part in at home. This is an epic episode that covers so much! Topics included: Lucy’s personal journey and how she got to where she is today. Museums and cultural organisations are not traditionally seen as sites for play. We dive into how Lucy has challenged this and has actively sought to encourage babies, toddlers, children and parents to play and be inspired at The Whitworth and how this has benefited them. Why the “Still Parents” project is so important to her and how the project supports the lesser seen aspects of parenthood. How The Whitworth has partnered with other cultural organisations to take this a step further. The huge physical transformation The Whitworth went through and how this has made the gallery more inviting. The vision for the Atelier and the role of the Atelierista (studio assistant). How COVID-19 has affected the gallery and the plans to reopen in September. and so much more! We’re thrilled to have Lucy as a guest on the show and I can’t wait for you to hear about her journey in art and early years education. ‘Particularly with young children and contemporary art, there’s something really exciting because they don’t have these preconceptions of what art should be, they just embrace what is.’ --------- Thank you for listening! We’d be so grateful if you could take 2 minutes to leave us a review on your preferred podcast app. Please share with anyone who you think would love to listen. This episode is sponsored by Kit + Kin, award winning nappies - head to https://kitandkin.com/ and enter the code BABY20 specially created for our listeners to use on the first subscription. Recorded via Zoom and edited at LBS, Stockport. https://lbs.co.uk/ Producer: Adders Jeffry Original Music written by Sadie Pickering, performed by Sadie Pickering, Dan J Logan and Jay Ansill Podcast hosting service - https://anchor.fm/backtothegarden Website and Show Notes: https://www.backtothegardenchildcare.com/podcast/ Instagram: @backtothegardenchildcare