The Guild will be participating in National Children’s Art Day for the first time this year. National Children’s Art Day is part of Artworks, the Young Artists of the Year Awards, which are open to all UK schools and celebrate innovative teaching in art and design.
It encourages and inspires children to encounter and engage with art in galleries, museums, schools and homes.

The Guild was fortunate to be one of the 50 (out of a total of 110) successful applicants for grant aid, and this project is funded under the National Children’s Art Day Grants Programme, managed by art gallery education body - engage on behalf of the Clore Duffield Foundation.

The activity the Guild will be leading on National Children’s Art Day will be developed from “Hands on Hats”, an object-based activity already run as a family session at the Guild. Our partner in this project is Latchmere Junior School, one of the contacts we made through the Guild’s learning programme which accompanied art of the Stitch 2001 and Generation.

Through “Hands on Hats” children, teachers and Guild Access and Learning Staff will explore a selection of hats from different points in history and parts of the world, looking at the social and cultural significance of these objects as well as how they use embroidery.

Textile artist Deborah Weldon will use these hats and their cultural and historical contexts as a starting point for looking at and discussing her own work.

One of the Collection objects which features in “Hands on Hats” at the Guild at Hampton Court is a 17th century coif panel - which would have been made up into a hat for a woman. Clearly the significance of this piece is such that we could not take it out to our school audience, so Chris Berry is researching the original in order to create a part- worked copy which the children can handle and compare with pictures of the original.

National Children’s Art Day takes place on 20 June and over the weekend of 22-23 June 2002.

The Guild project “Hands on Hats” will take place on 20 June with Latchmere Junior School, Kingston upon Thames.

Watch out for family sessions using objects from the Collection, for you to join at the Guild.