David A Hardy Webinar
On Friday 12th February David A Hardy, one of the world’s most popular Astro Artists joined Mark from 4wardFutures and Michael Hughes from Ellesmere Port Catholic High School in a webinar. Taking part were over ninety year 7 students and some GCSE art students. All taking part in webinar on Visualising a Life on Mars project, which 4wardFutures have been running with the school since September. Due to the COVID lockdown, all the students logged into watch the webinar from home, many being joined by other members of their family.
In the webinar David talked to the students about his work as an artist and illustrator: a career that was inspired by the early science fiction films he watched with his friends in the early 1950s.
After David had talked to the students, he and a fellow Astro Artist Steve Salmon who joined the webinar, gave feedback to the students how space had inspired work they had submitted as part of the project. Due to both David’s and Steve’s positive feedback about the high quality, thought and imagination that had inspired the students’ work, it was agreed to start planning a Junior Astro Art Society at the school.
This webinar was part of a 4wardFutures Visualising a Life on Mars project. In January 2021, Ellesmere Port Catholic High School won an Educate WOW award for their work on a previous 4wardFutures VALOM project.