A little boy, aged about five years old, just walked into the Rook Lane Chapel with his father and marched straight up to my desk.
“Is there any art here?” He said.
I told him there had been an exhibition but it had finished.
“What’s an exhibition?” He asked politely.
I told him that when there were paintings, or pieces of art up on the walls – it was called an exhibition.
“When’s the next exhibition?” He enquired.
I explained that there would be an exhibition of photographs opening on Saturday.
“Oh right – and then there will never be another exhibition.” He replied glumly.
His father then intervened and told him that there would be continuous exhibitions at Rook Lane – as it’s an art gallery. But he’d lost interest by then and had averted his attention to the colourful pages of the Somerset Art Week brochure.
Children have the most wonderfully inquisitive minds – fearlessly questioning anything that they don’t understand, with a constant thirst for knowledge. That is why it’s so important that they are encouraged to engage with the arts.
This October Jo Plimmer will launch Break 3 at Rook Lane – a maths/art interactive exhibition – using creative methods to break down the barriers that stand between children and maths.
“Mathematics is not about numbers, but about life. … And far from being dull and sterile, as it is so often portrayed, it is full of creativity”. K.Devlin; The Maths Gene
The project opens with ‘Puzzle and Play’, two weeks of games and Half Term activities at Rook Lane and in the town for schools, children and families.
Break 3 is funded by Awards for All, Ernest Cooke Trust and Give it a Go.
For more information, visit the Rook Lane website.
