I like it! I feel very comfortable in this room.
- Baipor, student at North Cambridge Academy
With blue walls and bright yellow floor-to-ceiling metal sculpted lines, and not a desk or chair in sight, ‘Motion Tracks’ is not a traditional looking classroom. Shelving, drawing boards and hooks hang between the poles, allowing students to use the classroom to display work and have debates. Grey carpet tiles and pin boards have been replaced with bright blue flooring and display boards, and chairs have been swapped for blue cushions and benches.
The ‘alternative classroom’ is a public art partnership project between North Cambridge Academy, Kettle’s Yard and artist Johann Arens. On 24 June (3–6pm), the public are invited to see the room at the school in Cambridge, as well as meet the artist, take part in artist-led workshops and see students’ artwork. It will also be a chance to see the North Cambridge Academy, which opened its new building in February 2016.
Throughout Arens’ year-long artist residency at the school, the alternative classroom space will be used by students for discussions and display, as well as creative workshops. Meanwhile, the Kettle’s Yard learning team will be running activities from the classroom every Monday, providing the opportunity for every student at North Cambridge Academy to take part.
“It’s a brand new school so it’s important for students to be able to make their mark there and show their aspirations for learning,” says Jonathan Stanley, Curriculum Leader at the Academy. “It’s a unique opportunity for them to work alongside artists and expand their ideas about what creative practice can be.”
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Image: Students in the alternative classroom
Credit: Johann Arens
Reproduced courtesy of the University of Cambridge
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