Ambleside pupils' art heads for New York

1:04pm Tuesday 13th May 2008

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Cumbria school children's art works are bound for the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

In March this year, Dr John Elderfield Deputy Director of the Museum of Modern Art, in New York was presented with an art work produced by children from Ambleside Primary School.

Mr Elderfield said that he planned to come back to Cumbria to visit the Merz Barn again later this year, and that he would also like to meet the children and see some more of the children's snake stick art projects on site at Elterwater.

They had made the artwork in honour of the refugee artist Kurt Schwitters who lived and worked in the South Lakes' area from 1945 - 47.

Dr Elderfield, who is also a world expert on the art works of Kurt Schwitters in England, said he was absolutely delighted with the children's art work (a piece of painted tree branch in the shape of snakes, collected from the site of the artist's last great art work - the Merz Barn, in Elterwater) and said that it was very much in the spirit of the artist's own work, and that Mr Schwitters also admired children's art greatly.

In anticipation of this visit, children from Langdale School (Chapel Stile) will be visiting the Merz Barn site again on Friday 16th May, (1.00 - 3.30pm) to take part in a special snake stick art workshop and make a new collection of snake stick arts works for Mr Elderfield to take back to New York.

Helping the children will also be 14 MA Art Students from the Slade School of Fine Art in London.