We’re a studio of young artists aged between 6 and 11 in Old Ford School in Tower Hamlets, East London and we’re part of Room 13 – a network of art studios around the world.
We run our studio as a business with a management committee of children. Since we opened in 2009, we’ve held four fund-raising events which have paid for all our materials. We have a fabulous Artist in Residence, Bethany Murray, who’s a performance photographer.
Last Christmas we produced a calendar to raise money for the running costs of our studio (you can see some of the paintings in our gallery). The Leaf Project website has been set up so we can continue to raise more money because we have exciting plans and, as artists, we’ve always got some big ideas on the go!
- Firstly we want to raise money so that other artists, alongside Bethany, can visit our studio and work with us. We particularly want a sculptor.
- Secondly, we are holding our first exhibition in a gallery in London this year and we know this is going to cost some money to make it look really good.
- Thirdly, we are raising money so that Bethany can go to the Room 13 Summer School Artist in Residence week. This is when all the artists get together in July and we want Old Ford School to have our artist there.
- Fourthly, we need some equipment like cameras and printers, canvasses, easels, clay and good paper with big brushes.
Room 13 is a registered charity.
The Leaf Project
This is how it works.
We’re asking you to sponsor a leaf for £10 (we’ve had 200 wooden leaves made just for us).
We will paint it for you.
We then mount the leaf on the front of our Studio where we have painted huge tree trunks with branches.
We will then upload a photo of the leaf to this website so you can see what you’ve sponsored (see the foliage gallery).
In Autumn 2011, all the leaves will ‘fall’ from the trees and we will hold an online auction in which you can buy either the leaf you’ve sponsored or another one that you like.
In Spring 2012 the cycle will begin again and we will paint another 200 leaves.
What makes your leaf extra special is that it will be joined by leaves painted by other young artists from around the world. We have asked every Room 13 studio to paint a leaf for our trees. Room 13 now has studios in South Africa, India, Nepal, Botswana, China, America, Canada, across Europe as well as in Britain. These will be a permanent feature of our Studio.
Here is a map showing the locations and clusters of locations of Room 13 studios around the world:
