Positioning children as artists through a ceramic arts project and exhibition: children meaning making

ABSTRACT

This article describes a ceramic arts research project that provided children with opportunities for meaning making using bone china clay, a medium with strong cultural and historical links to the city where the research took place. The children were positioned as artists and their work was curated and presented for exhibition by an international ceramic artist, affording equal status to their work as that of adults. Findings identified that children made meaning based on lived experiences, popular culture, unique family and cultural heritage, and school identities. We also acknowledge that adult attitudes and school schedules can both enable and limit children’s creativity. We further assert that the professional exhibition validated children’s processes, competence, cultural funds of knowledge and agency.

KEYWORDS:

• Creativity
• meaning making
• children’s voices
• participation and agency
• art

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Derby.