GREENMEADOW primary school was treated to a pop up gallery, thanks to a partnership with Swindon Museum and Art Gallery as part of its Art on Tour programme.

An outdoor classroom was transformed for the event, with pupils participating in activities such as building challenges, posing for pictures drawn by classmates, spotting scenes of Swindon and joining in an art treasure hunt.

Copies of artworks by famous artists like Henry Moore, Lucian Freud and L.S Lowry were used to created the temporary gallery.

Art on Tour learning officer Mags Parker said: “The pupils at Greenmeadow were fantastic – so curious and really engaged with the pop-up gallery and activities.

“We had a great time exploring the artworks and finding out about Swindon’s amazing collection together. We were delighted to work with Greenmeadow on our first ever pop-up gallery!

“We look forward to visiting schools across Swindon throughout the next year with the Art on Tour programme and Mr Bomford’s Imaginarium!”

Greenmeadow art coordinator Cat Roberts said: “Art is such an important part of the primary school curriculum.

“It is an area where children are allowed freedom to express themselves, an outlet for emotions and the chance to switch off from the world around them.

“For some children, art is their ‘thing’. For some, it is the one area of the curriculum where they can excel.

She explained: “At Greenmeadow Primary, we have placed an emphasis on art as a means of looking after children’s mental health, developing our own mini art gallery with art completed by children at home in their spare time.

“With so much going on in the world and with so many of the usual opportunities for visiting museums and galleries taken away from our children during the Covid Pandemic, it was fantastic to be able to welcome the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery into our school to provide such a rich cultural experience for our children.

“They loved looking at all the art pieces, engaging in an interesting and meaningful way, participating in talks and activities and generally just having fun.

“At the end of the session they even got the opportunity to create their own abstract masterpiece.”

One pupil from Year 1 said “I think the artists were very clever with how they can look at something and then draw it.”

Another said: “It was fun doing a hunt to look for different objects in the art work.”