Cultivate projects

Projects that ran in the borough, as part of the Cultivate programme.

Pump House Pavilion - 2018

D-P-Q / Pump House Gallery / Neon / Chestnut Grove Academy

Working with D-P-Q and Pump House Gallery, Chestnut Grove Academy students commissioned design practice NEON and Elliott Wood engineers to deliver a temporary pavilion to be installed on the gallery forecourt as part of Wandsworth Arts Fringe.

The aspiration was for the young people to co-design a temporary site-specific structure which would consider the relationship between the gallery, Battersea Park where it is located, and the temporary pavilion. The resulting pavilion was influenced by the industrial qualities of the Pump House building and the open spaces of Battersea Park. The project demonstrated how art and design could work together with STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) to provide creative learning experiences for young people, exposing them to the realities of an architectural project and the different roles involved. 

Part of a cultural programme funded by St William One Nine Elms Development scheme. 

Image: Jamie James Films

NEON - Pump House Pavilion from NEON on Vimeo.

Home - 2018

Apples and Snakes / Falconbrook Primary School / Westbridge Primary School  

Year 3 and 4 pupils from Falconbrook and Westbridge Primary Schools took part in a 6-week project with spoken word organisation Apples & Snakes. Working with professional spoken word artists BREIS and Kat Francois, and inspired by the theme of ‘home’, they explored their thoughts and feelings about their local area and where they feel at home. The pupils performed the unique spoken word, poetry and rap that they created to an audience of peers, teachers, families, guests and passers-by at Poetry in the Park in York Gardens, Battersea.  

For many of the 100 young people who took park, this was their first experience of writing and performing their own work, particularly in a public space. 

The project was funded by Linden Homes in conjunction with The Podium York Road redevelopment.  

Gasholder Heritage - 2017

Sounds Like Chaos / Chestnut Grove Academy

This project, working with students from Chestnut Grove Academy, looked at the architectural heritage of the Battersea Gasholders which were in the process of being decommissioned and the site redeveloped. Students worked with performance company Sounds Like Chaos and created a temporary art installation in the foyer at Battersea Arts Centre.

The project formed part of St William’s cultural programme as part of the redevelopment of One Nine Elms and was managed by D-P-Q and BAC.

Nine Songs for Nine Elms - 2017

Lucy Cash / Freya Thomsen / Griffin Primary School / Doddington and Rollo Community Garden

Artists Lucy Cash & Freya Thomsen made a film and performance working with local people including children from Griffin Primary School to create Nine Songs for Nine Elms; a series of songs inspired by the heritage of the Nine Elms area. Cash is a multidisciplinary artist who uses filmmaking, digital installations and choreography. Each song was influenced by a different musical genre and composed by the participants. A film captured the songs and some of the participants and an exhibition took place at the StudioRCA. The project looked at heritage narratives, local stories and memories which celebrate the diverse history of the local area.

Funded by Berkeley Homes as part of a series of cultural projects connected to the Vista housing development, commissioned by Up Projects.

Edible Avenue - 2017

Artists Richard Field & Sophie Rigg / Yr 6 St Georges Primary

In 2016, Thessaly Road was transformed with art and planting by art/horticulture collective ‘The Edible Bus Stop’. Year 6 pupils from St George’s Primary worked with artists Richard Field and Sophie Rigg to develop ideas and influence the final designs for the wall which were painted into place by street artist Mr Danes.

The workshops and the Edible Avenue projects were funded by Vinci St Modwen as part of the development of New Covent Garden Market.

Push Pull 2016-2017

DPQ / St Mary’s Primary

Architects Dallas-Pierce-Quintero worked closely with Yr 5 students to co-design an eye catching and colourful permanent fence boundary for their new school building.

Entitled ‘Push – Pull’ this new artwork faces on to the public realm at Gladstone Terrace, brightening the daily journey for the school community as well as passers-by. Starting when they were in year 4, the students took on roles of client, designer and fabricator to understand the design process and chose to reflect a sense of fun and playfulness as well as a kaleidoscope of colour through their design collaboration. The project was designed to instil a sense of pride in the new school building and involve the young students in a real-life design project. Push-Pull was part of Taylor Wimpey’s cultural programme for the Battersea Exchange development.

Image: Dallas-Pierce-Quintero

Exploring Nine Elms - 2016

Exploring Nine Elms consisted of three projects in three schools. Architect Wendy Smith, designer Jasper Sutherland and artist Anne Harild were asked to deliver creative projects which developed new skills and engaged young people in the changes happening in their area in Nine Elms and Battersea. Some of the students shared their creative work in a school assembly and project planning resources were created.

Architect Wendy Smith / Yr 10 GCSE Art St John Bosco College

This project explored the regeneration master planning of the Nine Elms area, in particular New Covent Garden Market. Following site visits and discussion, students created architectural sculptures of their ideal intervention in the place.

Wendy Smith with pupils at St John Bosco

Designer Jasper Sutherland / John Burns Primary

Jasper, a communications and engagement designer from Make:Good, co-created play structures with pupils. They looked at a riverside site and worked to a brief based on five themes chosen by the class. The children consulted with children in the nursery at their school about what they wanted from a play structure.

John Burns students working with Jasper Sutherland on the Thames path in Nine Elms

Contemporary artist Anne Harild / Chesterton Primary

Together, Anne and a Chesterton Primary class explored sculptural forms and ideas in architecture, to understand how forms interweave, looking at a site near Chelsea Bridge and making temporary sculptures in their playground.

Chesterton Primary working with Anne Harild

Exploring Vauxhall

Young people in Lambeth explored regeneration in Vauxhall with creative professionals and developers working in the area, to learn about place change and develop creative skills through three projects. Each group spent time with artists, observing spaces, making art, learning about different professions and sharing their work with the rest of their school.

Commissioned by Lambeth Council and CLS, developers of Vauxhall Square.

Artist and Arctic explorer Vicky Long / Local student council at St Anne’s Primary in Lambeth / Vauxhall Community Gardens Studios

  • Focus: The redevelopment of the Vauxhall gyratory by Transport for London

Theatre Director Danielle McIlven & Parkour expert Jason Cheung & Chocolate Films / 16+ group from Roots and Shoots

  • Focus: Exploring the local area through performance, thinking about the present and future to produce a short film ‘Exploring Vauxhall’, made by Chocolate Films with the group, documents the project.

Artist Harriet Smith / Yr 4 Wyvil Primary / Mt Anvil Keybridge development & Vauxhall City Farm

  • Focus: Exploring how we share our urban spaces with animals as part of Science Week

Photos: Stephen Wright

People who Make Places - 2016

Chocolate Films/Southfields Academy

Battersea-based Chocolate Films worked with a group of Media Studies students at Southfields Academy to make a professional short documentary film about some of the varied professional roles involved in the regeneration of Nine Elms. The young people developed camera and sound skills and learned how to create a narrative and story structure.

Moving Walls - 2016

Pump House Gallery / DPQ/ Artist Orly Orbach / St Marys Primary

Pump House Gallery commissioned artist Orly Orbach to work with students across the school to create a large-scale artwork for a temporary hoarding dividing their playground with their new school building, being constructed next-door. St Mary’s Primary is in the very centre of the Battersea Exchange development, with new buildings going up all around, including an exciting new school building that they moved into in September 2016. The project aimed to engage every pupil in the school, to give them a chance to express thoughts and feelings about these changes, to produce something beautiful of which they can feel proud, to gain creative skills and to learn about an artist’s practice. The brief asked the children to consider existing local structures such as the railway viaduct, the construction process of the new school building, the history of the site and the school building to be demolished.

Teachers and the artist planned together and chose to explore the idea of the life-cycle of the school. Children were helped to imagine the school as a live being - growing, being loved, falling into disrepair, dying, and a new school being reborn. Orly used a variety of printing techniques and visual poems bringing new creative ideas to the school. 240 children took part and teachers carried on work to develop creative writing contributions. The resulting work feels like a sketchbook, with the children’s contributions jostling and overlapping, with visual cohesion provided by the simple red, black and white colour scheme.

Part of Taylor Wimpey’s cultural programme for the Battersea Exchange Development.

Power of Imagination - 2016

Battersea Power Station Development Company asked artists Cara Flynn and Luke Walker to challenge local primary school children to be a creative team with ‘superpowers of imagination’. They explored images of the power station and the theme of energy then created artworks of the patterns found in the power station building using mechanical drawing machines and simple mark-making techniques.

The project was managed by Flow Associates for BPSDC.

Image: Battersea Power Station Development Company

Up to Cultivate (2015-2018)

Updated: 10/05/2022