By Sarah Longley

This resource documents a project facilitated by artist educator Sarah Longley, working in collaboration with a primary school and a daycare centre in Scotland. Sarah talks about how she was inspired by the Exploring Identity pathway to deliver a project that sought to produce vibrant portraits inspired by the stories of participants.

In this project, children interviewed elderly people from a daycare centre and produced portraits inspired by their stories. Sarah explains how she facilitated this project by navigating funding, building community relations and celebrating important social history through portraiture.

This project took place over several weeks, with three sessions to prepare children for the visit to the daycare centre and three sessions to complete the portraits. Sarah also details how she managed to get the whole school involved in the project, which resulted in two wonderful exhibitions, a book and a film.

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‘This resource really demonstrates how art can successfully bring awareness to important humanitarian issues, promote inclusivity and can give a platform to those who otherwise wouldn’t be heard. The links between text, photos and drawings are really strong and demonstrate the creative process used by Olivier from start to finish. I really like the inclusion of suggestions for students within the post, which encourage students to learn more about their community and to understand the experience of being displaced. This is turn will hopefully inspire the next generation to be part of an inclusive and empathetic society.‘ – Tobi, AccessArt

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