Wow, what a busy few months we have had at RIG Arts!

In the past few months, we have continued to work in Kings Oak and All Saints Primary School as well as the Kings Oak Family Hub and the Broomhill Art Flat.

During the first week in September we celebrate Zero Waste Week in all of our workshops! In one of our Zero Waste Week workshops at the Broomhill Art Flat, participants tried their hands at Eco-Printing/Dyeing with Textile Artists Susan McInnes and Steph Davidson.

In this session, participants had the opportunity to print and dye with natural foliage and berries onto paper and fabric. This was a really exciting workshop as in our normal textile-based workshops, attendees had been working on making their own paper and fabric journals. Not only did we use foliage that can be found in gardens and public parks, but we also used food items that may normally go to waste to make the natural dye.

One of our other Zero Waste Week workshops was a Clock Making workshop using some of the bowl-shaped moulds we have made from ground and then melted milk bottles and coloured plastic. Participants design their own clocks by picking the base from the moulds and then using plastic waste items such as buttons bottle tops and pens to make the numbers and other decorations.  Class facilitators explained to participants the process of making the moulds and explained that everything used in the session was 100% reused/repurposed from waste items.

Textiles Upcycling Session

Throughout this block, our textiles upcycling sessions have been extremely busy! Whilst working on our Eco-dyeing/printing techniques participated also worked on making their own paper to include in their textile journals. This was great for us as we go through A LOT of paper in the RIG office, so knowing that it is being ground down and made into something cool and creative is fantastic!

As well as completing textile journals, participants also worked on window displays as part of the Galoshan’s Parade. The textile upcycling class were tasked with the challenge of designing and creating window displays for the route of the Hallowe’en parade. Participants worked on fabric pumpkins to create a pumpkin patch, dreamcatcher-style spider webs, large painted fabric landscapes and also scary fabric pictures that were hung in redesigned – donated picture frames. Our textile artist Susan McInnes worked on a sculpture piece for the Galoshan’s Exhibition from donated textiles that were a representation of how harmful the fashion industry is to the environment.

Furniture Upcycling Session

We have received a huge donation of 82 photo/picture frames and mirrors that totaled an average of 405kgs. We have so far put a vast majority of these frames into good use with our Hallowe’en pieces for Galoshan’s, to upcycle then frame the plastic mural and to use in the furniture upcycling class. There is so much we can do with these frames, from giving them a new colour, a new picture and even breaking them down to make terrariums, shelves, and decorative pieces!

Participants continued to develop their upcycling skills by learning how to upholster furniture pieces. All of the furniture that was used in these sessions were either donated or participants brought their own lackluster pieces to breathe a new lease of life into them!

Kings Oak Primary School & All Saints Primary School

We have continued delivering our Eco Crafts sessions at KOPS and ASPS. In these sessions we have been having some fantastic conversations about how long certain recyclable items take to decompose in landfill which allows the children to put into perspective what can actually happen when you don’t put the appropriate items in the right bins!

We try and focus our craft based on the topic that we are discussing that week for example, ‘Plastic Ocean’ we make jellyfish from plastic bottles and beads, ‘Decompose in Landfill’ we make birdhouses from cans etc. We find this is the best way to connect with the children and they can relate the craft item they are taking home to what we have discussed that day.

The children have been great in bringing in recyclables from home to use in the sessions and have been very mindful of their own waste. We have had a number of pupils tell us directly about the changes they have made at home such as buying a tote bag, making crafts out of recyclables and taking trips to the recycling centre with their family. This has been a great example of behaviour changes within the primary school classes and they are continuing to tell us each week about the conversations they have had at home about whole family behaviours.

We are looking forward to seeing more fantastic work in block 3!