I love the moment in a residency (says she, with the wisdom of only two residencies) when you realise that it’s ok, everything will be finished in time. Mind you, with both experiences that realisation came quite late in the piece, but maybe that’s normal.
When we finished printing, the time came for writing. I have to admit, getting the parents to send in addresses for the kids to use was a bit like herding cats, and to mimimise the stress we (the teachers and I in conference) made a commitment that if we hadn’t received a separate address, the child would just send their postcard to their family at home. Happily, there was a Learning Journey morning just at the right time (where the parents come in & accompany their children in a series of classroom tasks to see how much they’ve progressed in the year) and we got a heap of addresses that way.
These are the Pre-school postcards, scribed by the assistant, Tora, who had her last day at the school on the day we posted their cards.
Because the Pre-schoolers only attended Mondays to Thursdays, we posted their cards on the last Thursday of my residency, and the rest of the school on the Friday.
Here they all are, with Fiona the wonder-teacher, getting prepped to walk down to the post office.
…and here they are, arriving at the Post Office (faces blurred as requested). We took lots of photos of them posting the cards, but I’m yet to get them from Fiona, as I was too busy helping them up & down the step-ladder that Ken, the Post-Office-man, kindly provided to help them reach the slot.
The next day, the rest of the kids were really excited about getting to the post office.
(I can show you the faces of the Year 2 kids, because they all have media clearance. The others I have to pixellate if they’re recognisable.)
They are such delightful kids.
Walking to the shops.
Ken, the nice Post-Office-man, met us all and welcomed us to the post box. He had his trusty stepladder for the smaller kids…
… and then he gave us all date stamps on our hands! Winner!
It’s a short and lovely walk to and from the shops, especially this time of year when it’s warm and all the blossom is out.
At the end, back at school, we had a group photo, yelling POSTCARD!
And it was all over, bar drinks with the beautiful teachers down at the pub.
All I have left to do now is to make a souvenir book of a set of the postcards for the school. We got all the children to write a personal reflection about the project on the back of one of their cards and give it to me; I will use a single coptic binding and put them all together before next term, when I’ll pop in and deliver it.
What a great term’s work!
There’s a number of thank-yous I need to give.
Firstly, to ArtsACT, for selecting me and making this all possible.
Secondly, to some very special people who gave me advice and help: Amelia Zaraftis for submission aid and a glowing reference, Franki Sparke for printmaking magic, and the staff of the Art & Design Dept of CIT Reid for the use of their awesome guillotine.
Thirdly, to the amazing staff of the school, all of whom were supportive, friendly and generous. The headmistress, Margaret May, is a very special person. Also to the parents who offered and gave support.
And finally, to the children, who rocked my world. It was fantastic.
THANK YOU.