February 2023

Local schools join Wheal Martyn Clay Works on their quest to find a bright future.

We are delighted to announce that we will be joining The Wild Escape, a major new project uniting hundreds of museums with schools to find nature in museums.

Led by national art charity Art Fund and with support from Arts Council England, hundreds of museums, galleries and historic houses are coming together for the largest ever collaboration between UK museums.

Taking place from January to July 2023, The Wild Escape invites children to find a favourite animal in their local museum and create an artwork imagining its journey to a natural habitat. The pictures and stories children create will be brought together in a collective work of art that imagines a better future for the wildlife on our doorstep, launched online and in museums on Earth Day 2023.

  

As part of The Wild Escape, we are working with six local primary schools. The adventure will begin with a visit to Wheal Martyn. Through a series of workshops with local professionals, including writer Emily Ould, dance practitioner Rob Mennear from SpinDrift Dance, and a South West Lakes Trust Conservation Officer, the children will tell the animals’ story through dance, art and creative writing. Each participating school will then share their creative work as part of the national celebration on Earth Day.

We are then inviting the schools and all the community to join us for our Wild Escape Earth Day Community Gathering on Saturday 22^nd April. The day will be filled with nature-inspired activities, dance performances by the schools, arts and crafts, and stalls for local eco organisations to share tips and solutions.

The Wild Escape is an opportunity to join the urgent conversation about climate crisis and biodiversity loss and look for nature positive solutions, in partnership with leading environmental charities RSPB and WWF and cultural organisations National Trust and English Heritage.

The Wild Escape is inspired by Wild Isles, a landmark BBC series exploring the flora and fauna of the UK.

Jenny Waldman, Director, Art Fund, said:

“I'm thrilled that Wheal Martyn Clay Works is joining hundreds of organisations from the Outer Hebrides to Folkestone to connect thousands of children with the natural world through the UK’s truly great museums. Thanks to the invaluable support of Arts Council England, the Wild Escape will empower families and children across the UK to visit and discover our wonderful museums, whilst taking positive action to picture a better future for our wildlife."

Gemma Martin, Education Officer at Wheal Martyn, said:

“This is such a wonderful opportunity for Wheal Martyn to work with our local schools on such an ambitious creative project. Young people will have a chance to express their thoughts, worries and possibly even solutions to some really big topics. We hope that this project starts conversations, ones about our choices now and how they will affect our future and the future of our beautiful native wildlife. We want to be the start of something positive!”