Rachel Fitzpatrick Design
Highlights of some of the socially engaged projects Rachel has lead.
Rachel working with local primary school pupils in F.E.McWilliam Gallery & Studio. Photo Credit, Bradley Henderson
Highlights of some of the socially engaged projects Rachel has lead.
Rachel working with local primary school pupils in F.E.McWilliam Gallery & Studio. Photo Credit, Bradley Henderson
During the covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns Rachel partnered with the F.E. McWilliam Gallery & Studio to create MINI CRAFTS FOR LITTLE HANDS - weekly online tutorials to fuel children’s creativity while at home.
The tutorials used only basic art materials or things you might find in your recycling bin to create little pieces of artwork such as a fox Family from toilet roll holders or and owl pen pot holder from a tin can, wool and bottle tops.
The project which ran from Summer 2020 to Spring 2021, was kindly sponsored by the Arts Council of NI and Armagh, Banbridge & Craigavon Borough Council and delivered through social media platforms as online tutorial and ‘video-grams’
Below are some examples of the tutorials created. To see the whole series check out my YouTube channel via this link.
Rachel has over 15 years experience facilitating socially engaged art and craft workshops for children. She has curated workshops for large community festivals or small groups working closely with local council officers, schools, galleries and cultural venues.
Below are example of some recent projects
‘Rainbow Stars’ was created in collaborate with a primary school in County Down. Rachel worked with pupils from every age group (age 4-11) over 2 days to create a Rainbow made out of paper cut-outs of each pupils hand prints.
This project was funded through schools by the local educational authority in Northern Ireland to create experiences and learning which children had missed out on during the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. Many of the children had been in classroom bubbles for over a year and this was their first time to interact with pupils from different year groups.
During the covid-19 pandemic the rainbow had become a global symbol of hope and also of our support for the NHS in the UK. Everyone signed their hand print and the colourful artwork was put on display in the centre of the school.
If you look closely you can see the signature of each child on their hand print - every child created part of this masterpiece.
Working in a different primary school with pupils aged 8-11 Rachel used various arts and craft techniques to create a ‘mural’ of the rural landscape seen from the children’s playground.
The children were split into teams mixing age groups to encourage the children to work together to make individual aspects of the overall scene.
Rachel worked closely with the children to design the mural discussing with them the important things which needed to be included for it to represent them, their school and the area in which they lived. If you look closely you can see silage in the fields, ewe’s with their lambs, a green tractor set against the backdrop of the Mourne Mountains.
The project was delivered outside in the open air as we emerged from the covid lockdowns and then the final piece was proudly displayed in the school.
