Education and Outreach
Schools
The Company of International Artists have been invited into many primary schools, inspiring and supporting children to investigate art, create themselves.
This can take several formats. Sometimes we work for a single day with one class, resulting in students gaining an Arts Award certificate, a nationally recognised creative qualification accredited by Trinity College London.
We have been recognised by Trinity College since 2021 as a 'champion centre' for our outstanding and innovative delivery of arts awards courses.
See how we made this work (still in slightly pandemic-times) in a school in south Bristol.
What schools say
INSPIRING
“I want to look up more of the artists the agents told us about so I can see more art.
They gave us lots of new ideas to take away and use. I wish they could come every year.
It's inspiring because you can show the world how you really are."
Year 6 students
CREATIVE
“I could express my feelings in the art today.
It was exciting to meet the agents who are creative and confident.
I enjoyed everything, especially adding paint to my self portrait."
Year 4-5 students
CONFIDENCE BOOSTING
“It was great to be able to step back and watch them work creatively.
This work has undoubtedly boosted their confidence, and given them self-belief and resilience.
It was so interactive, they were thoroughly engaged."
Teachers
Making Radio Dramas in Schools
Radio Drama Commissions
We have been commissioned by local councils in Dorset and Somerset to work with primary schools to create radio dramas inspired by art.
The children spend one day exploring art and developing creative writing skills resulting in a script inspired by the art they investigated.
They spend one further day developing their voice acting skills as we record them performing their radio dramas.
These sound recordings are then edited and published as free to access sound walks in the area local to the school, meaning the students, their families and friends but also the wider public can listen to their radio dramas free of charge at any point.
We have two such projects completed:
Redstart Radio in Chard, Somerset and Stories by the Sea in Weymouth, Dorset.
If you were in those areas you could listen yourself. Full intel via the links.
Community Workshops
The Company of International Artists have run community art investigation workshops in many contexts, on weekends, school holidays and for home educated children.
These workshops are a unique blend of art history, hands-on creativity and songwriting and are led by Agents Kahlo and Dali.
Previous clients include:
Elderflower Fields, Lakefest and Valley Fest, Children's World Charity, Chippenham Fringe, Calne Town Council, Dorset Music Service, Shaftesbury Fringe Festival, Family Arts Bristol (for home educators), South Bristol Arts Trail and Bristol Libraries.
The agents are happy to design bespoke workshops, but they also have four 'ready-to-go' ones.
More creative community commissions
GIANT BRISTOL ART TRAIL MISSION
commissioned by Bristol City Centre Bristol Improvement District (2024)
We hid 10 inspiring artworks in various shops and venues in the central Bristol area between August and November 2024.
We made sure the art looked the part in all the different locations, for example there was pirate art in Treasure Island Sweet Shop, book illustration art in Second Page Bookshop and Matisse art under a Matisse quotation in Cass Art on Park Street.
Agents were invited to locate the artworks and investigate them closely with the help of some creative questions.
There was also the offer for agents to create new art inspired by the trail which we displayed and celebrated on our social media.
Museum Partnerships
Agents Kahlo and Dali are proving to be a potent way of animating art for new audiences, unashamedly reclaiming the art world as something for everyone.
Trinity College, London
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The Company of International Artists are a delight to work with!
They are professional, dedicated, passionate and produce genuinely imaginative and quirky content for all to enjoy."
Stephen Bradley, Bristol Museums
The Company of International Artists works with museums & art galleries to find bespoke, innovative and creative ways to boost family's engagement with their collections.
Previous clients include:
Bristol Museums, Corinium Museum (Cirencester), The Dorset Museum
If you'd like to investigate what we could bring to your museum or art gallery, get in touch!
Bristol Museums
FREE MUSEUM FAMILY ART TRAILS (in person & remote options)
commissioned by Bristol Museums (2022/23)
Secretly, on certain Mondays in 2022, when Bristol Museum & Art Gallery was closed to the public, Agents Kahlo and Dali slipped, incognito, into the museum on Park Street in Bristol.
Turns out the agents were making family friendly art trails about Bristol Museum & Art Gallery's art collection!
There are three themed art trails to complete either in-person or online. They are all free of charge, and encourage families to investigate the art at the museum, and then to create new art inspired by the artwork featured in each trail.
There's an accompanying short film for each art trail, which gives family-friendly art history insights into the art featured in each trail. We recommend watching these films in advance of going to the museum (or instead of going to the museum).
New art made by young agents can be showcased both on the Company of International Artists social media, and in some cases also on big screen in Bristol Museum & Art Gallery cafe.
You can engage with these art trails remotely, if you can't make it to the museum. To do this, explore the films and links below.
Time to pick your trail, agents!
Corinium Museum, Cirencester
Digital engagement for rural communities
commissioned by The Corinium Museum, Circencester (2021)
The Company of International Artists was commissioned to work with Gloucestershire Libraries and the Corinium Museum in Cirencester, as part of the Art of Libraries,
We created a bespoke mission about artefacts from the Corinium Museum including the famous Hare Mosaic, and designed a simple kit of creative resources which were taken to rural schools in the Cotswolds by the Gloucester Libraries schools' librarian.
Children took the missions and kits home, and created new art inspired from the artefacts at Corinium Museum. These families were also invited to join a special online mission, and to show Agents Kahlo, Dali & Bourgeois the art they made.
See artwork made by agents on The Corinium Mission here.
We made this film to encourage the agents to complete The Corinium Mission.
The Dorset Museum
Art Trail to encourage off-site exploration
commissioned by The Dorset Museum, Dorchester (2021)
We were commissioned by Dorset Museum to design a bespoke Creative Mission to help families explore the ancient Roman artefacts uncovered at the Roman Town House in Dorchester.
If you are in the area, you can still download this free mission to enhance your visit!
