Our new installation is artwork produced by pupils of The Marist Prep School and St George's School Ascot. To see more pictures, please press HERE and click on Art @The Station

Our new installation is artwork produced by pupils of The Marist Senior School. To see more pictures, please press HERE and click on Art @The Station

On 22^nd January 2026, Alison Watson, our Young Arts Representative organised Cartoon Workshops, led by Harry Venning, An Arts Society Lecturer who had amused us greatly with his lecture on The Art of the Cartoonist in December 2024. He worked with two local schools, Year 9 pupils from Charters School and a class of lively Year 6 pupils from Cheapside CE Primary School.

On arrival at Charters School in the morning, Alison and Harry were met by Art teacher, Mr Mills, who is a cartoon enthusiast and holds a weekly cartoon club at the school. It promised to be a very interesting session and so it proved. Soon all the participants were working on their own cartoons while Harry moved among them offering guidance and encouragement. Many of the cartoons produced showed real talent  and  promise.  Harry  was  able  to  inspire  and  communicate  to  all  present, including the staff. 

After a short lunch break, Alison and Harry went on to Cheapside School, where the children were ready and waiting to start. Harry was asked to draw a birthday card for one student. A cartoon of a unicorn, party hat askew on its horn with a cake, was created and given to a delighted recipient. Here, as in the morning session , some pupils displayed  real ability and a grasp of humour.

The workshops were an overwhelming success. Harry is a brilliant communicator and clearly enjoys working with young people. We were extremely lucky to have him as a tutor. The Arts Society Ascot is fortunate to have the resources to foster the development of art in the schools in our area.

Our new installation is artwork produced by pupils of St George's School, Ascot. To see more pictures, please press HERE and click on Art @The Station

In a change from the usual Young Arts events organised by Alison Watson, the Young Arts Representative of The Arts Society Ascot, our Project for 2025 was a Poetry Competition open to schools in the Ascot Area – Primary and Secondary.

The competition was launched in the Spring of 2025 and an independent panel of professional writers would be judging the entries: Charlotte Sebag-Montefiore: Author of books for children and leader of poetry workshops in schools; Rawz: Poet, musician, youth worker and teacher and resident Sound Artist for 2022 at St John's College, Oxford; and Catherine Harvey: Writer, actor, broadcaster and teacher. Poetry reader on "With Great Pleasure" and "Poetry Please" (Radio 4). The theme of the poems was ‘Dreams and Imaginings’, and there would be prizes for each age category. This project was made possible thanks to a grant from the Patricia Fay Memorial Fund.

The winning entries came from St Mary’s School, Ascot and St Michael’s CE School, Sunninghill and the prize-winners were invited to receive their prizes from Charlotte Sebag-Montefiore at our October Lecture meeting. Each winner was presented with a certificate, book token and a copy of a booklet of the poems.

Our new installation is on the theme of Royal Ascot 2025. Seven local schools, South Ascot Village School, St George's School, Ascot Heath Primary School. The Marist School - Prep and Senior, Papplewick School and Cheapside CE Primary School, all contributed to this year's display as well as Miyoko, a member of The Arts Society Ascot.  Between them, they have produced a wonderful varied display, celebrating this annual event.

To see Photos of the exhibition please click HERE and select Art @ the Station

Our new installation consists of a variety of art projects undertaken by pupils of Papplewick School, Ascot. A variety of media and techniques has been used to create thiese works by pupils from Years 5 to 8 in the school.

To see more Photos, please click HERE and go to Art @ The Station

On 28th June, Alison Watson, our Young Arts Representative, organised a number of gamelan workshops in two Ascot schools - South Ascot Village School and the Marist Prep School. Gamelan is the traditional ensemble music of the Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese peoples of Indonesia, made up predominantly of percussive instruments. The workshops were led by Simon Cook, a jazz pianist also specialising in the music of Indonesia (where he lived for 12 years) directing gamelan ensembles at Royal Holloway University of London and City University. Simon teaches music at ACS International School Cobham. 

The instruments of a gamelan include gongs, metallophones, xylophones, drums and bamboo flutes among others. Setting up the instruments on the floor took a while, but once arranged, the children took their seats on the floor in front of them and learnt how to beat out various rhythms and tunes, at the same time singing short repeating songs in Javanese. It was a novel and very challenging experience for the children, but one they enjoyed immensely.

The first workshop was at South Ascot Village School where the entire year 5 class of 30 children participated. All of them engaged excitedly with Simon Cook, the tutor. They joined in the songs in Indonesian as well as playing the instruments. Their enthusiasm and enjoyment were infectious. 

We then moved to the Marist Preparatory School where we held two workshops for Year 6. In contrast to the morning session the groups were small – 10 or 12 girls – in each workshop. The pupils were knowledgeable about Indonesia and some had visited the main islands. The singing was more subdued in the smaller groups but the girls seemed to enjoy the experience. Simon used a different song with these groups which described a bug poking its head out. There was a dance to accompany this and undoubtedly one of the highlights of the afternoon was when the headmaster was prevailed upon to dance. This provided a fitting end to the afternoon.

In celebration of this year's Royal Ascot meeting, pupils from The Marist School, St George's School and Sunningdale Pre-School produced art work to tie in with this annual event. As well as paintings, drawings and collage work, the display included hats made and decorated by the pupils.

To see more photos click HERE and go to Art @ the Station

Our new installation consists of a variety of art projects undertaken by pupils of St. George's School, Ascot. A variety of media and materials has been used to create thiese works by different age groups in the school.

To see more Photos, please click HERE and go to Art @ The Station

Pupils from both senior and Prep phases at the Marist School Sunninghill and St George's School Ascot have provided the artwoek for our latest display. Themes range from landscapes, Tinga Tinga Art, Amazing Africa to studies of flowers and collages using a variety of materials and media.

To see more photos please click HERE and go to Art@The Station

Our latest display of art by pupils from local schools celebrates the Coronation Of King Charles III. Pupils ranging from pre-school to senior age contributed wonderful tributes to the King, reflecting not only his position as Monarch and Head of State of the Commonwealth, but also some of his interests. 

Funding for materials for this project was given by means of a grant from The Arts Society in London.

To see pictures of the display click HERE and go to Art@ the Station

In December 2018, The Arts Society Ascot launched its Art @ The Station initiative at Ascot railway station, exhibiting a rolling programme of artwork created by pupils from a number of local schools, ranging from pre-school to senior age groups. It subsequently adopted Ascot  station under a scheme run by South Western Railway, who have sponsored a number of projects for children organised by The Arts Society Ascot.

South Western Railway together with Sandy Mahon, the Community Rail Line Officer, Southeast Communities Rail Partnership CIC, set up an project involving its station adopters, to mark the Coronation of King Charles III.  As a part of this initiative, on Wednesday 26 April, a class of Year 3 children (ages 7-8) from South Ascot Village School arrived at Ascot station for an art workshop, organised by the Society’s Young Arts Representative, Eloise Volschenk. The activities included painting and decorating trinket boxes, whose lids were shaped like crowns, assembling and decorating gold and silver card crowns and painting wooden cut-outs commemorating the coronation, designed to hang in a window. Eloise gave demonstrations and instructions on how to paint the boxes and assemble and decorate the crowns, although unfortunately time ran out before the wooden cut-outs could be decorated.

Cllr Christine Bateson, Mayor of the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, visited the workshop and took a keen interest in their activities.  Representatives of South Western Railway along with Sandy Mahon, were also present and some of them even had a go at painting trinket boxes and making hats!

Part way through the workshop, lunchbox snacks provided by Optalis Services, were served to the children. The afternoon was a great success and will no doubt be a memorable reminder of the King’s coronation. The Arts Society Ascot is very grateful to South Western Railway for funding this event.

To see photos of the event click HERE

Pupils from both Senior and Prep Phases at the Marist School Sunninghill, have provided the artwork for our latest display. There is a variety of themes, including an interpretation of 'The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse' by Charlie Mackesy, an enchanting story brought to life as an animated film on BBC TV over Christmas.

This year, students from St Geoerge's School Ascot supplied art work to commemorate Remembrance Day. This display was produced at the request of South Western Railway, who sponsor our Art@TheStation exhibitions. We have been installing Rememberance Day exhibitions since 2019, with the exception of 2020, which we were unable to do due to the pandemic.

This year, students from schools in the Ascot area once again produced very poignant artwork to commemorate the sacrifice made by soldiers in conflicts going back to the Great War, or as we now call it, The first World War. Contributions came from South Ascot Village Primary School, Cheapside C of E Primary School Ascot, St George's School Ascot, St Mary's School Ascot, The Marist School Sunninghill and Papplewick School Ascot.

GCSE and A Level students from St George's School Ascot submitted some of their work for display at Ascot station. This included haunting and atmospheric charcoal drawings by A level student, Millie, GCSE paintings by Isadora and Naomi, and a GCSE textiles piece by Joyce. Due to the Coronavirus, we were not able to display work from other schools and we are very grateful for these contributions.

The 2019 Young Arts Project was organised by Eloise, who brought the finished products and some of their makers together at our December Lecture Meeting.   Pupils from South Ascot Village Primary School came to tell us about the ceramic birds they made, which were on display.  The children described the methods they used for the different stages in their productions, to the delight of our members. They had obviously really enjoyed learning how to work with clay and apply the colour glazes, and had been surprised to see the colourful finished artworks.   

To see pictures of the Project Click Here

We had an art installation as a part of our Art @ The Station project at Ascot Railway Station to commemorate Remembrance Day. The display comprised a poppy wreath and a frieze depicting the poppy fields of World War I.  Pupils from seven local schools, ages ranging from three to sixteen, contributed canvases which were hung on the waiting room walls at the station. The schools involved were: Cheapside School, the Licensed Victuallers’ School, South Ascot Village School, St George’s School, the Marist School, Sunningdale School, and Sunningdale Pre-School. Members of our society have also contributed to the installation in the form of poppies made from a variety of materials. The installation remained until 24th November.

The Arts Society Ascot is the latest society to participate in the Art @ the Station initiative, started by The Arts Society Farnham. Our new exhibition of Young Art was launched at Ascot Station on 14 December 2018, working with South Western Railway.   Four local schools submitted artwork to be exhibited inside the station’s waiting room. The ages of the artists ranged from 3 to 12 years, and some of the youngest contributors attended the launch, together with parents and teachers, committee members of The Arts Society Ascot, representatives from TAS West Surrey Area, and from Barclay Interiors of Ascot, who generously sponsored the project. 

The displays will be changed every three months to enable other schools to showcase their work.

The event sparked a lot of interest and delight from rail travellers as each of the frames was unveiled. Those attending enjoyed mulled tea (as the station had no alcohol licence!) and a selection of delicious bite-sized cakes and festive chocolates for the children.

We look forward to hearing travellers’ comments directly, through our website, and from the friendly and helpful station staff.

This year we are again funding a ceramics project at Ascot Heath Junior School.  In the past four years the projects have involved producing large animal sculptures linked to Easter, Christmas Nativity figures, a range of pots (which included a chalice and plate) and finally lanterns.

The theme for 2018 is “Shells and Fish”.  Stephanie Bolter, the Potter, met with Sarah Theaker, the Headteacher, to discuss the topic, methods and procedures.  She then submitted her proposal, which we endorsed.

For two days in April the children worked in two groups of five, which promoted individual work with group support, and each child produced a large sculptural piece using slab and coil methods.  On the first morning they were introduced to clay, process and method, then looked at fish and shell symbolism in art using stories, photographs and models to create a 2D design for their sculpture.  In the afternoon and on the following morning they used clay and the techniques they had been shown to produce the 3D form in clay.  On the final afternoon they used different tools to decorate their pieces

The pupils were totally absorbed in the project and gained confidence as they worked.  It was a pleasure to witness this.

Mrs Bolter took the work to her studio for bisque firing.  Later this term the pupils will spend a morning decorating and glazing and they are really excited about this.  Mrs Bolter will then glaze fire the sculptures.

The work will go on display and pupils will have an opportunity to show it to their parents and visitors later this term.  We hope to see some of the children with Miss Theaker at one of our autumn meetings to talk to us about the project and show us the results.

JL

Jayne Strand and Janet Longstaff met with Sarah Theaker, the Head of Ascot Heath Junior School, in January and discussed this year’s project, Ceramic Lanterns.

The first two days were the 16th and 17th of March where 10 children worked with Mrs Bolter to produce the Lanterns using the Slab method of hand building. The project linked to Maths with a look at 3D shape and form, geometric patterns and symmetry, and to many distinct cultures of the world using references from religious faiths. 

The first morning involved discussion and consideration of the artefacts and information that Mrs Bolter had brought in and in the afternoon each pupil began by preparing the sides and base of their lantern and the following morning decorated these in relief using impression, carving and sculpture. In the afternoon they attached the walls to the base by scoring and using slip.   Mrs Bolter took the work to her studio for firing. It will be returned to school in a couple of weeks and the pupils will further decorate then glaze their work.

I attended the two afternoon sessions and have NEVER seen a group of pupils so engrossed in their work! At the end of the first day Mrs Bolter found a note on her desk from one of the children stating, “I have had so much fun”.

I must say that I, too, “had so much fun”.

We were able to see the work and meet the Head and two of the pupils at out October meeting.

JL