The Tu Ôl i’r Llenni (Behind the Scenes) project was formed through the CELF network (The National Contemporary Art Collection Wales) and Celf ar y Cyd.Celf ar y Cyd is a website which encourages everyone to browse, learn, and be inspired by thousands of contemporary artworks from the collection at Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. The aim of the project is to pilot how schools can more easily access national collections – and how galleries that are part of the CELF network might help facilitate that. This project offers one model of working. Storiel and Oriel Plas Glyn y Weddw have worked with two primary schools – Ysgol Garnedd (Bangor) and Ysgol Cymerau (Pwllheli) respectively, the artist Luned Rhys Parri and Amgueddfa Cymru – Museum Wales. The project was funded through the Cultural Support fund, Levelling up fund via Gwynedd Council.
The work has provided an opportunity for students and teachers of the schools to learn about Celf ar y Cyd, to search through its collection and how best to search and use the website. In addition, they have learned about famous painters and artists from Wales and beyond.
The project was led by the artist and former art tutor Luned Rhys Parri. With work held in collections at the National Library of Wales and CADW, Luned Rhys Parri is fast gaining recognition as one of Wales’ most celebrated and original artists.
Both schools had themes they wanted to focus on through the project – themes that they were already focused on in the school. For this project, Luned wanted to look at the works of the artists the pupils had chosen; Brenda Chamberlain, Peter Prendergast, Agustus John and Gillian Ayres. The work also celebrated the people and landscapes the children were familiar with and were selected to learn about various methods in creating artworks.
While the exhibition is in Storiel and Plas Glyn-y-Weddw, the pupils will visit the exhibitions and have another opportunity to collaborate with Luned, creating works that respond to the exhibitions.
As part of the project, the children have been very fortunate to have an online session with the team at the National Museum in Cardiff to learn about the art collection; What is in the collection? What is kept and why? How they are kept and cared for? How they choose which pieces of the national collection are seen at different periods and why?
The pupils will also have the opportunity to go on a trip to the National Museum in Cardiff in the coming months to get a further glimpse ‘Behind the Scenes’ of the national collection.
The children from Ysgol y Garnedd, Bangor asked to research into the theme of ‘Bangor’ to coincide with their schoolwork for the Spring term 2025. Many images came up once we entered ‘Bangor’ as a search term into the ‘Celf ar y Cyd’ website – showing a variety of landscapes and portraits. Three artists came to the fore with Ysgol y Garnedd; the landscapes of the area by Peter Prendergast and his heavy outline; Brenda Chamberlain as she was born in Bangor and likes to draw portraits of people; and the people depicted by Augustus John as he travelled around the country. He studied and depicted ordinary people from all kinds of backgrounds.
The pupils of Ysgol Cymerau, Pwllheli explored the themes of ‘water’ and ‘sea’. There was so much material, it was easy to spend hours browsing through the results on the Celf ar y Cyd website. The following artists came to the fore because of their connections with the area; Augustus John and his portraits of people; Brenda Chamberlain because of her years of living and working on Enlli (Bardsey island), (where several pieces can still be seen there to this day thanks to the island’s conservation work); and the colourful world of Gillian Ayres who lived in Llaniestyn for a while in the 1980s as she started her life as a full-time artist. In addition, there were many images of the region’s connection with the sea, in depictions of boats, fishermen and more.
