Pupils GoGo Wild for Animal Art Trails

East Point Academy pupils were invited to decorate animal sculptures that will be displayed around Norfolk and Suffolk, as part of the ‘GoGo Safari’ and ‘Hop to it!’ summer art trails.

Regional charity Break, who raise money for young people in care, are once again holding their fantastic art trail across Norwich and Norfolk. This year their ‘GoGo Safari’ trail, which will run from 23^rd June to 30^th August, will feature a variety of animals including 65 giraffes’, also known as Mini G’s.

Over 50 of our pupils worked together decorating a Mini G who they named Gideon, meaning 'great warrior.' Members of the Wellbeing Art Club and those taking part in the art community project as part of their Duke Of Edinburgh Award, examined ‘GoGo Safari’s’ theme of ‘strength, resilience and hope’. They came up with the brilliant idea of expressing this through the Japanese Art form 'Kintsugi' (to repair with gold), as it represents the journey of healing and becoming stronger. Decorative images and colours symbolic of inner strength were then painted onto Gideon.

To celebrate their hard work, the pupils enjoyed cake and had their photos taken with Gideon before he was collected to take part in the trail. He can be found inside Norwich Art Shop, in Upper St Giles.

During this time, a second sculpture decorated by East Point Academy pupils will be on display for the public to see. Local Suffolk charity, St Elizabeth Hospice, also invited the school to take part in their Suffolk based art trail, ‘Hop to it!’, featuring sculptures of hares.

A group of selected art pupils where tasked with decorating a ‘stargazer’, a sculpture of a small hare looking up to the sky. They based their design on the theme of coastal erosion, but decided to give it a positive spin. Taking inspiration from local composer Benjamin Britten’s Opera for children based on Noah’s Ark, and the RSPB’s work building new habitats in the area for birds to nest in.

Hope is currently on display until 29th August at Kingsley Home Care Services, London Road North in Lowestoft.

We’d like to say a big thank you to Break and St Elizabeth Hospice for inviting us to be a part of their wonderful fundraising events. The pupils have had a fantastic time working on both sculptures. We’d also like to say thank you to Miss Jackson and Miss Layzell for supporting the pupils working on Gideon, and to the members of the art department for helping the pupils who decorated Hope.

Well done everyone!