The Hands Up project was designed to involve the whole of Ocklynge Junior School in Eastbourne (over 850 children) in the creation of a new outdoor sculpture for the entrance of the school.

Representatives from each class were selected to work directly with the artist and feedback to their fellow pupils.

Every child in the school drew round their own hand on a specially designed worksheet; the hands were then personalized and cut out by the children.

The class rep’s then brought the paper hands to workshops at the artist’s studio to work on arranging them into components of the sculpture. The lines created by overlapping the hands were converted into vector pathways and then cut out of mild steel with a laser.

The class reps inspected and approved the sculpture at ‘Gap Metal’, a local steel fabricator in Halisham, prior to powder coating and installation at the school. Pupils and parents were encouraged to follow the progress of the project, and vote on colours and designs online at the Hands Up Blog.

The project was completed five months from the submission of the artist’s proposal.

Rep's Q&A session

What do you think are biggest benefits to being involved in the project and seeing/ hearing a real working artist?

"So you know how a real artist works and learn from him." (3R & 6ST)

"Good for all to work together on a project." (4W)

"Inspiring us to remember our time at Ocklynge with pride." (4B & 6RJ)

"It will make the school look more attractive and interesting." (4MO)

"It is different to what we usually do." (5BD)

"The school will look cool!" (5WR)

"Encouraging art in the school environment, inspiring us." (6Z)