A thousand schoolchildren’s sculptures go on display at Mackenzie Thorpe’s Richmond gallery

Spearheaded by Yarm School, and organised in collaboration with internationally acclaimed artist Mackenzie Thorpe, the ‘You and I’ community art project is now being celebrated in a special exhibition at Mackenzie’s Arthaus Gallery in Richmond.

More than 1,000 children from 22 schools across Stockton took part in the two-year long project, which was supported by regional law firm, Jacksons.

The project saw pupils take part in workshops with Yarm Prep School art lead Rachel Shepherd alongside local artist Jessica Jenyns and featuring a special inspirational video message from Mackenzie. Each pupil created an individual clay figure representing themselves, resulting in more than 1,000 unique figures which have been brought together to form a large-scale collaborative artwork.

The sculptures were originally displayed as a public installation at the new Stockton Waterfront Urban Park and have now been brought to Richmond for the exhibition at the Arthaus Gallery.

Mackenzie Thorpe said: “It has been fantastic to be part of this project and to see what the children have created over the past two years.

“The idea was to give them the freedom to express themselves and create something that was their own. What came back was more than 1,000 completely different characters, each with their own personality.

“Seeing them all together is very powerful, and I wanted people to have the chance to see them here at the gallery. The children should be incredibly proud of what they have created.”

Rachel Shepherd, art lead at Yarm Prep School, said: “It’s been great to see the children’s responses to seeing their artwork in Mackenzie Thorpe’s gallery.

“I’m delighted that their dream has come to fruition.”

Dr Huw Williams, Headmaster at Yarm School, said: “This project has been two years in the making and has involved an enormous amount of work from everyone involved.

“Working with Mackenzie has given children from across Stockton the opportunity to take part in a major collaborative art project and to see their own contribution become part of something much bigger.

“We are incredibly proud to have organised the project and seeing the sculptures together at Mackenzie’s gallery is a wonderful way to celebrate what the children have achieved.”

The exhibition will be on display at the Arthaus Gallery until the end of the month.