A giant cardboard fish created by college students has helped celebrate Children’s Art Week at Turner Contemporary.
The sculpture made its way back to the seaside after a #savethefish Twitter campaign was launched. The fish had previously made its way around central Canterbury attracting the attention of passers-by.
The huge cardboard fish, built by a former Canterbury College art student and current students, was so colossal it had to travel by truck to reach the gallery in Margate.
School children from Boughton-under-Blean and Dunkirk Methodist Primary School decorated the fish with hundreds of brightly coloured paper plates whilst learning about the importance of recycling and protecting the environment.
They then used plastic bottles to create miniature sculptures and used colouring books to make pictures of endangered species. Marine conservation and the impact of dumping rubbish in our oceans was a focal part of the session.
Art lecturer Lindsay Soord said: “It was really great to visit Turner Contemporary with our students and the school children really enjoyed themselves creating pieces out of plastic bottles including a turtle. The fish is massive so with 1,000 brightly coloured ‘scales’ it made a big impression.”
Jenny Scott, education officer at Turner Contemporary said: ‘It was brilliant to house Canterbury College’s giant fish at the entrance of Turner Contemporary to help celebrate Children’s Art Week.
“The college students designed and delivered a fantastic sea-themed workshop using recycled materials for local primary school children and visitors, whilst the fish was transformed with hundreds of coloured scales. I was so impressed with how wonderful the students were with the children, they were a real testament to the college.”
The giant fish has now returned to Canterbury College.