Chippenham mayor is inspired by crafty pupils’ take on Olympics (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Chippenham mayor is inspired by crafty pupils’ take on Olympics
3:00pm Friday 29th June 2012 in Chippenham
Mayor Andy Phillips, Nina Phillips Redland School headteacher Hilary Walton and pupils from the school with their creation
Chippenham mayor Andy Phillips took in the sights of an Olympic-themed art trail last week.
Children from local primary schools created the trail to celebrate London 2012, with each school taking on a different country.
Along with children from Redland Primary School, Coun Phillips walked the trail, which features 20 exhibits including a Greek collage, giant African masks, an Italian mosaic and 400 Norwegian Moomins.
Days later, he joined children from Stanton St Quintin who showed off their work in the Yelde Hall – four terrifying dragons lying in wait for hapless visitors. The mayor said: “It’s a tremendous idea to put this artwork around our town.”
Standing next to a particularly fearsome dragon, he joked: “Which one is the mayor?”
The children performed a dragon dance, which was recorded on a DVD to be shown at the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre.
Coun Phillips was equally impressed by Redland’s exhibit, which represents Romania and its Olympic success in gymnastics.
The four-foot sculpture will remain on the town hall plinth until the trail is dismantled in September.
Coun Phillips said: “The youngsters have told me how they made the statue. I can see it took them a lot of patience and effort. It’s the same for all the schools who have contributed to this lovely trail. It really shows off the different concepts the children have of how they view what we call the cultural Olympiad.”
Trail maps are available from the Community and Visitor Centre, town hall, the Chippenham Museum and Heritage Centre, or online at www.chippenhamschools.co.uk Those who complete the trail and are able to identify the countries represented have the chance of winning an Olympic-inspired prize by posting their completed trail map in the special letter box in the Community and Visitor Centre no later than September 1.
