Category Archives: Schools

Omega Now! Competition Winners’ Products Now On Sale

Blog articles Exhibition Learning Schools Textiles No Comments
Omega Now! products in shop display

Earlier this year, in collaboration with Ulster Museum, we ran a joint competition for students aged 14-18 to create a surface design inspired by the designs of the Omega Workshops and received over 40 entries from schools across Northern Ireland and England. The winning designs are now on sale to celebrate the Bloomsbury: A Collective exhibition, open in Belfast until October, which features designs by Omega Workshop artists.

It was an all-Northern Ireland shortlist, with the winning entry by Lily Stuart from Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock. Runners-up were Molly O’Grady and Faye Gardiner from, Our Lady and St Patrick’s College, Knock and Lurgan College, respectively. Lily’s design features on a tote bag, while Molly’s and Faye’s designs feature on note pads – all of which are currently on sale at the Ulster Museum and The Courtauld gift shops.

Kathryn Thomson, Chief Executive at National Museums NI said: “I want to congratulate Lily, Molly, Faye and all the young people who entered this competition. The vast range of entries demonstrates the incredible talent and artistic flair of our young people, and I hope exhibitions such as Bloomsbury: A Collective, and museums in general, continue to inspire them, and like minded people, in sparking their creativity.

“I am delighted that we are able to continue this valued partnership with The Courtauld by delivering projects that allow our audiences to engage with us in diverse and immersive ways.”

Take a look at the products in The Courtauld’s online shop.

Omega Now! New competition for young people

Learning Schools No Comments
The Bloomsbury Room at The Courtauld

We are thrilled to announce that our new competition for young people aged 14-18 is now open! In partnership with Ulster Museum we are running a competition inspired by the wonderful Omega Workshops designs in our collection, and we are asking for new ideas inspired by the Omega style and values, which will be manufactured onto card or textiles products and featured for sale in our gift shops..

The winners will have the chance to work with our retail teams to see their design made into a product and sold in Belfast and London, and the opportunity to see it in the store.

The Omega Workshops created a range of bold and colourful objects for the home, including rugs, ceramics, furniture and clothing, examples are on display in The Courtauld Gallery’s Bloomsbury Room.

A toolkit of inspiration and details of how to take part are available on the Omega Now! webpage.

 

Planning underway for collaboration with Ulster Museum

Exhibition Networks Research Schools Volunteers No Comments
Noted being taken in a meeting

Last week, we were thrilled to host Anna Liesching, Curator of Art at Ulster Museum, to discuss future partnerships between the Courtauld and National Museums Northern Ireland, and to take a look at some of the many activities currently happening in and around the gallery. 

The week was packed with research and in depth meetings with curators, registrars, public programmes, and the research forum team, to plan our Autumn 2020 exhibition – details to be announced soon! – but we still found time to explore, including looking at some of the highlights of our works on paper collection during a visit to the store rooms and joining one of the MA classes of the Courtauld Institute to find out about the ongoing conservation work to Botticelli’s Holy Trinity at the National Gallery (find out more about the project here: https://courtauld.ac.uk/botticelli-holy-trinity-conservation).

We have lots more planned for our partnership in Northern Ireland, as well as the exhibition later this year we will be collaborating with NMNI to engage volunteers and schools in exploring the heritage of fashion and textiles in their area. Keep an eye on our news page to find out more. 

GCSE History students investigate Courtaulds Ltd sources

Learning Schools No Comments
Lorna Kernahan discussing sources with students

In November and December 2019 we worked with Greenfield Valley Heritage Centre to deliver two day-long workshops with year 10 and year 11 students at Ysgol Treffynnon in Holywell, Flintshire. The sessions were designed to develop students’ skills in analysing historical sources and communicating and presenting their ideas to others. Investigating a handling collection of Courtaulds Ltd artefacts and photographs, as well as oral history recordings from people who worked in the local Courtaulds Ltd factories and images of works from The Courtauld Collection, students made some relevant and creative connections and prepared some very informative and well-planned presentations. Students from Ysgol Treffynnon are now looking forward to visiting London to experience works from the Collection first hand in the Spring term.

“Very useful! Really good use of sources, consideration of inference, reliability and different mediums. We do actually study aspects of mid-19th Century industry and economy.” – Head of Humanities, Ysgol Treffynnon

“I learned the way that different sources are collected and used to create new ideas about the past and what certain things were using the evidence from the sources” – year 11 student

“I learnt how to analyse sources better and analyse objects by linking them to their history” – year 11 student