Derby Cathedral School pupils have plenty to bee proud of with new sculpture

There has been plenty of buzz around a new art installation in a city school which was created by pupils from sticks of willow and tissue paper.

Creative pupils in year nine at Derby Cathedral School, in Great Northern Road, have created five giant bees and a beehive with help from professional artist Ruth Lewis-Jones.

The sculptures, which have been installed as a permanent fixture in reception, were created to reflect the school’s faith values of fellowship, aspiration, integrity, tenacity and humility.

The school belongs to Derby Diocesan Academy Trust and although it is a Christian community it welcomes pupils from all faiths and none.

Tyler Sims, 14, said: “We firstly created a mind map of our values and came up with words and imagery that we all associated with each of them. We settled on the idea of bees and a nest because they represent us as our students working together at school.

“We worked on the project over two days and I feel really proud when I look at the finished artwork – it all came from a pile of sticks and tissue paper and we’d never made anything on this scale before.”

The two-day project was funded by Artcore and led by Belper artist Ruth Lewis-Jones who has worked with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature, Streetwise Opera for people who have experience of homelessness and she has provided holiday art ‘schools’ for refugee children at the Ukrainian Centre.

The project was part of the school’s work to improve pupils’ cultural capital. By exposing students to professional artists, they can see there are careers in the creative industries.

Annie Cooper-Smith, 14, is studying GCSE Fine Art. She said: “I love sketching but had never really painted before. I developed a lot of skills and I really enjoyed the process – looking at what we started with and seeing the finished result.”

Cadey Stevens, 14, added: “At the end of the first day we had finished putting the structures together and you could tell it was a bee.

“We all got stuck in and worked together which showed fellowship. And sometimes things didn’t work so we had to show tenacity and humility if it went wrong. I really enjoyed working with people I hadn’t worked with before.”

Head of art Amanda Gibson, said: “The bee was chosen by the group as a symbol due to its strong association with hard work, teamwork and harmony in nature.

“Just as bees work together in unity to support their hive, the students are using their sculptures to reflect the importance of fellowship—working together in a supportive and caring community. Integrity is symbolized by the honesty and accountability seen in the natural roles bees play in sustaining their environment.

“The students worked so hard throughout the two days and both myself and Ruth commented on what a pleasure they were to work with. The bees have added a real talking point in our reception area and the children are rightly proud of their achievement.”