Totems from the Pit wins national award for Gillingham School
Open 11:00am - 5:30pm
During May 2001, the internationally recognised sculptor and ceramic artist Marc Lancet undertook a residency at Gillingham School. The centrepiece of this residency was a collaborative project, with 12 artists and sculptors working one-on-one with art students at the school.

In early June a seven foot deep pit was dug in the grounds of the school. The artist-student teams used the resulting clay to create ceramics which were then mass-fired in the pit at a special ceremony attended by everyone involved. The pieces were of such a design that they could be put together as totem poles.

Like many of the visionary projects undertaken at Gillingham School, the residency relied a great deal on the energy and enthusiasm of the school's  Aly Diggle (herself a ceramicist) and Syd Symons.

'Fired earth - Totems from the pit', is an exhibition of the sculptures and ceramic paintings created by Marc Lancet and Alyson Diggle during the residency, together with the pit fired totem pieces and additional work in different media by the artists involved: John Ambrose, John Anley, Norman Beaton, Hannah Corben, Heather Crump, Ruth Harling, Kerry Kinnell, James Lockwood, Syd Symons and Jane Whiteley.

Other past exhibitions

If you would like to be kept informed of upcoming events at the Slade Centre then please register here.