Talk About Art has long believed in the value of bringing sustained creative practice into school environments. During our Wild Co-Design project in 2024, discussions began between Talk About Art and Tidemill Academy on how the school's annual "11 Before 11" project might present an opportunity to work together again, this time impacting every child in the school.

 

Talk About Art were keen that any project developed with the school would see an artist embedded within the school, enabling children to build a strong relationship with a creative practitioner and further the understanding, on both sides, of the role creativity can play in schools.

 

The finished piece reflected the diversity of the school community, with each tile acting as an individual voice within a larger collective work. The use of ceramic tiles drew inspiration from local domestic and public spaces, referencing tiled shopfronts, mosaics, kitchen walls and ad-hoc repairs seen across the borough.

 

By recontextualising these materials within the school environment, the project invited children to consider the built environment as something adaptable and open to transformation. The mural brought a sense of Lewisham into the school, while the process encouraged the children to look outward, engaging more closely with their local area. The project was guided by values of inclusion, collaboration and creative reuse, and positioned the school as a space not only for learning, but for making and remaking the world around it.

Laura Inacio was recommended to Talk About Art by Peas Press, a Lewisham based design collective who worked with Talk About Art on our Wild Co-Design project. With support from Tidemill’s art teacher, Janie Tonkin, Laura led the school’s weekly Art Club sessions and worked closely with the pupils to develop ideas for a large scale, collaborative work that would include every child in the school.

 

The residency centred on building relationships and fostering a sense of creative ownership among the children. Each workshop was designed to encourage children to feel a greater sense of ownership of the school environment and build strong and positive relationships with peers and leaning support assistants. Some of the children struggled with communication skills and as a result often felt excluded, Talk About Art’s project helped to give these children a creative voice and confidence to communicate ideas and develop problem solving skills.

 

Drawing on the rich heritage of Deptford and the legacy of grassroots creative projects along the high street, Laura invited the children to think about the textures, colours and everyday details of their surroundings. These observations became the basis for a series of workshops where each child designed and created their own ceramic tile. The tiles were then cured and mounted onto wooden boards to form a large mural, which was displayed during the school’s annual art festival.