Nursery Children in Aberdeen open an Art Exhibition at the Robert Gordon University

Children from Bright Horizons Treehouse Early Care and Education Centre situated onsite at Robert Gordon University in Aberdeen, have celebrated the opening of their art exhibition as part of the Voices of Children International Project organised by the BrightStart Foundation in Geneva.

The project aims to enable young children from across the world to express their creativity through art, and to use their creativity to share their views on what is important to them through painting, drawing, sculpture and photography. This amazing project, led by academics from Australia, England, Japan, USA and Italy, inspired the staff and children at Treehouse Nursery to produce a variety of artwork around the theme of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging.

Children from the nursery showcased their art at the University’s celebrated Gray’s School of Art, where parents and guests came to see view. Prior to the exhibition entitled, ‘Who I Am’, the children were invited to a number of workshops in the School of Art, including one dedicated to working with clay. The children were introduced to different forms of clay art and were guided on how they can use the material to create their own works of art.

Dr. Jennifer Clarke, Associate Professor at the Gray’s School of Art said: “We wanted to hold a workshop for the children to be able to come and use our facilities and learn about the importance of expressing themselves through art. It’s great to see Bright Horizons Treehouse Nursery be so enthusiastic about children’s artwork and displaying it to the parents and families. I look forward to seeing the nursery continue exploring creativity and we hope to do more fun workshops with the children at Treehouse Nursery in the near future!”

Fiona, Nursery Manager at Bright Horizons Treehouse Early Care and Education Centre said, “The children have been so proud of their art creations, and we were so inspired by the University’s recent graduate exhibition, that we decided to hold our very own art exhibition to celebrate the children’s creativity. We have used a story called ‘My Shadow is Purple’, which is all about inclusion, diversity and being true to yourself, as inspiration and this has helped the children with their understanding. We contacted the author of the book, Scott Stuart, who said how thrilled he is that his book is having such an impact on the children.

“We are so proud of all the work and effort the children have put into their artwork and how creative they have all been around this theme.”

The children created their art in multiple ways such as paintings, drawings, clay, and salt dough sculptures. They also had the opportunity to learn how to use photography as a way of expressing their voice and talking about who they are and their place in our world.

Jane, Early Childhood Area Director for Scotland at Bright Horizons comments, “It’s great to see the nursery get involved in such an important project. The Voices of Children is a vital project to ensure young children’s voices are heard in society, and at Bright Horizons we feel proud to be a part of this, nurturing each child’s creativity and showing that we’re interested in what they have to say. Providing exceptional experiences for children to explore their creative side is at the core of everything the team do, and we strive to support each child.”