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Teacher Training Year

Northumbria University 04/05
School Placements
Jesmond Primary School, Newcastle
Royal Grammar School, Newcastle
Hebburn Comprehensive, South Tyneside
John Spence Community High School, North Shields
St Thomas More RC High School, North Shields
Taught all secondary years during 20 weeks in placement schools.
Devised and carried out projects/schemes of work including photography (pinhole, darkroom & digital), 3D construction, graphic design, computer manipulation, painting & drawing and architecture. Team taught at GCSE level, A level & GNVQ.
Planned and carried out external visits to galleries (Baltic & Hatton).
6 week experience as a form tutor.
Marked work, including GCSE work and contributed to school monitoring.
Embedded literacy, numeracy, citizenship and contextual studies in projects and required study of a diversity of artists relevant to schemes of work.
Attended a comprehensive series of lectures and workshops on campus and at partnership organisations covering all aspects of teaching from SEN to performance art, the National Curriculum to behaviour management, pastoral care to Assessment for Learning.
Completed assignments on Equal Opportunities, Accelerated Learning, Assessment for Learning, Citizenship, Contemporary Art & Secondary Education, Behaviour Management and EAL & Cultural Diversity.
‘Jo clearly carries a torch for the subject and his credentials as an artist and teacher truly reflect this’ Placement 2 report, John Spence Community High School.


Workshops and Teaching (prior to PGCE year)

Environmental art workshops with groups of mixed age and ability as a part of the Exmoor Residency (with resident artist Anne-Marie Culhane). Objective: Enhancing environmental awareness and sensitivity. Method: various activities, overnight camping and the creation of a web-based and land-based treasure hunt.
Arthur’s Seat: Responses to Landscape: Weekend workshop on location and then in studio discovering landscape painting and basic quick printing techniques. 2001
Arts Worker at Craigmillar Arts Centre, Edinburgh: Mid week and weekend 2 hour art workshops with children and adults of mixed ability, some with special needs. 2000-1
Gozone Multimedia: A social inclusion project for young and disadvantaged people to present their concerns (such as dyslexia) using simple multimedia and animation techniques.
Teaching on Art HC Diploma Course Lews Castle College 1998-9:
Multimedia:
A 3-day workshop as part of the HC Diploma course in Art. Students learnt digital photography, digital manipulation (photoshop) sound recording (minidisc) and basic editing and created their own branch of an interactive programme available on CD.
Life Drawing:
Life drawing as part of the HC Diploma course in Art.
3D Design:
3 day creative product design course seeking innovative design solutions to practical items.
Location Drawing:
2 day out door drawing course.
Screen-printing:
From simple stencils to photo screen printing.
Children’s Saturday Art Workshops at Taigh Chearsabhagh Art Centre & Museum using a variety of techniques. Different age groups. 1998-9
Summer School Art Teacher at Lionacleit School, Benbecula in a team of 4 disciplines (art, music, dance and word) working for 2 weeks towards a performance with 20 schoolchildren aged between 12 and 17, 1998
Etching: A one day public etching workshop at Taigh Chearsabhagh Art Centre covering the use of soft & hard grounds, drypoint and aquatint. 1997
Summer School Art Tutor in Voss, Norway: One week summer art course. Previous tutor/artists included Patrick Heron & Eduardo Paolozzi. Subjects covered: drawing tools, collage, mono-printing, still-life, mixed media and working on location. 18 students. 1996
Highland Festival: Working with special needs centres, community groups, schools and youth clubs to make screen-printed banners. 8 different groups from Skerray in Sutherland to Onich near Fort William. 1996
1st year Part time drawing lecturer at Grays School of Art, Aberdeen: Introduced students to general mark-making techniques by devised exercises often involving constructs/installations. 1988
Associated skills: Planning & facilitating courses, ordering materials, working collaboratively, working with different age groups & abilities, working in a wide range of media.

Gallery Curator:

Out of the blue Oct 99 – Jan 03 Curated and co-ordinated exhibitions in one of Scotland’s busiest galleries managing exhibitions representing a diverse range of media and artists.
Projects included:
Square Foot: A week of events focusing on the need for studio space in Scottish cities. This incorporated Square Foot conference/seminar and A Foot Squared exhibition exchange with Glasgow Independent studios.
Locate: a collaboration with Edinburgh Collage of Art fine art department to create an innovative exhibition for undergraduates and post graduates within out of the blue’s New St building including the car park, exhibition spaces and the night club toilets.
Larger curated exhibitions:
Creative Resistance: Exhibition investigating the successes and pitfalls of political photography with work by 20 artists uncluding Sebastiao Delgado and Owen Logan.
NlightN: 19 artists from all over Britain produced work for a darkened gallery involving light.
The Games Room: Over 40 artists investigated the theme of games. During the month long exhibition there were 4 commissioned interactive installations (or games).
At Taigh Chearsabhagh Art Centre & Museum: Through the Uist Art Association (chairman and committee member) instigated and organized projects and exhibitions. One of a small steering group set up to implement the development of Taigh Chearsabhagh Art Centre, to determine exhibition programme and find associated funding and later to assist architects with further expansion phase. Assisted with exhibitions, workshops and project needs of various visiting artists including Chris Drury, Liz Ogilvie & Will MacLean.
Project Management:
Islands Project: instigated and organized a 3 year project to encourage local artists to work and exhibit together. Visiting artists invited to give workshops on each of the 3 trips to offshore islands Vallay, Boreray and the Monachs.
Roadends Project: Worked as part of a team on this community project to create sculptures designed through collaboration between isolated local communities and invited artists. Devised and delivered a public presentation to introduce and propose the idea to various communities.
SiteNsounD: Instigation, funding and administration of community arts project in the Leith/Dalmeny area of Edinburgh. Community workshops in sound, still image (photography), video and film (8mm) capture/recording, manipulation and editing. Project culminated in performance event with potential for development of community website.
Associated Skills: The development of contacts through collaborations – Liaising with other arts organisations to share resources, expertise and mutually beneficial publicity – diverse experience of exhibition presentation from framing requirements to the use of technical equipment such as video projectors, monitors, computers etc and the safe and aesthetic requirements associated – design and presentation of computer slide shows an interactive multimedia (Director, powerpoint, Hyperstudio) - the handling of valuable & delicate artwork – promoting exhibitions to the press – instantaneous delivery on demand of visual publicity to press by CD & email – providing contextualizing activities: workshops, artists talks – co-operative skills when sharing public exhibition space of indeterminate boundaries with café & night club.

Fine Artist

Education & Qualifications
BA Hons (1st) = Post Grad in Fine Art at Gray’s School of Art, Aberdeen
Multimedia HC Anniesland College, Glasgow
Quark Xpress & Photoshop: Glasgow College of Building & Printing
Exhibitions
NlightN: Group exhibition of works involving a light source 2000
Exposed: New St Exhibition Space, Edinburgh 2000
3 Gentlemen Taigh Chearsabhagh.1999
Proiseact nan Eilean Boreray Taigh Chearsabhagh. 1998
Proiseact nan Eilean, Vallay Taigh Chearsabhagh. 1997
Grinneas nan Eilean. An Lanntair Gallery 1997
Uist Art Association Annual. Taigh Chearsabhagh. 1992-1999.
Suil Uibhist (artists from Uist), Eden Court Theatre 1993
Suil Uibhist, An Tuirrean, Skye 1992
Suil Uibhist, Bathgate 1992
Compass Gallery New Talent 1987
Grays Sketch Club 1986
Aberdeen Artists 1986
Scottish Amicable (solo) 1984
Lochmaddy Hall, North Uist (solo) 1984
Glasgow Group, Maclennan Galleries 1982
Collaborations
With Anne-Marie Culhane as part of Landmarks Exmoor Residency: Devise and designed treasure hunt both online and real (in a forest). Virtual treasure hunt included graphic design & multimedia programming. Real treasure hunt involved design and creation of clue markers (stone, glass and copper). Photographic support to & documentation of performance including panoramic photography.
With Anne-Marie Culhane as part of Exploring Place, Arthur’s Seat Residency: Performer in ‘Hangmen’ short film. Digital and cine work for film ‘Ritual’. Design of Exploring Place bookwork.
With Anne-Marie Culhane: Moon. Edinburgh Botanic Gardens. Cine filmwork and photography of dance performance.
With Anna Davis: Awarded a First Reels STV Film Award and made 10 minute film ‘Wind’. Shown at various film festivals including the Edinburgh Film Festival and the London Alternative Film Festival.
With various artists: Proiseact nan Eilean. Created various installations in and around Vallay House, a ruin on the Island of Vallay on the west coast of North Uist.Architectural Perspective Artist 1990-92
Worked for a number of firms notably Keppie Henderson (SBT Keppie) and Assist Architects creating convincing topographical ‘artist’s impressions’ of projected sites and buildings for development from architects plans. This would often involve aerial or other virtual viewpoints and the creative addition of landscaping and visual extras (railings, shopfronts, window colouring etc).

Graphic Design:

Main Clients
Out of the blue (99-03) In house designer.
Western Isles Enterprise: Visitor Attraction Leaflet – To make an easily interpreted map-led guide for visitors to encourage travel throughout the Western Isles.
Razoroctopus (02-03) Promotional postcards, logo & posters for cabaret nights promotion company.
Exploring Place – Arthur’s Seat Project (02): 36 page artist’s book: design & layout.
Committee Work
Uist Art Association (Chairman): Busy local arts association and steering body of the arts component of Taigh Chearsabhagh. Member for 5 years, chairman 1 year.
Ceum Air Adhart: Founding member of community group to improve quality of life in Lochmaddy. Main successes: A new village hall and toddlers’ playpark.
Uist Boat Club: Founder member of boat club responsible for 3 years of Boat Fest day as well as regular sailing club activities.
Taigh Chearsabhagh (Director)
out of the blue team committee.
Other work
Teaching English as a foreign language: 2 schools, one in Alcala de Henares and the other Ronda in Andalucia.
Additional Skills
Website updates, studio lia ison, funding applications, driving licence, French and Spanish.