This month sees the return of the Tall Ships' Race to the region, and it promises to be the 'must-see' event of 2005.  | | Felt designs from Ravenswood Primary |
To celebrate the arrival of this spectacular showcase, Gateshead-based arts organisation, GemArts, launched the Journey's End project across the Tyneside area. Matching ten artists with ten schools, the plan was to engage the children with a variety of workshops that employed a mix of geographical, historical, cultural and artistic ideas, and set them to themes of journeys, oceans and ships. Children explored the myths and legends kept secret in the murky depths. Tales of sea monsters, mermaids and sirens alongside more human matters of travel, ancient trade routes and the import and export of spices and silk. Eclectic Helped along by local sculptors, textile artists, wood workers, puppet makers and glass artists who headed the workshops, it proved to be an eclectic project that gave the children a better understanding of the enormous impact the ocean has on the way we live around the world. Feltmaker Baruch Rosengarten, who conducted a workshop at Ravenswood Primary School, said of the result: "The wall hanging produced by the children was excellent. Their use of colour and finger manipulation with the felt was great. I learnt something new myself!" Many of the workshops introduced the children to different methods of producing art such as batik, couching, hand-weaving, dying and printing, giving them more insight into the cultural origins of these methods from around the world. Importance A tribute to the Tsunami victims also formed part of Journey's End. Workshops were put together to show local children the historical and cultural importance of the Indian Ocean and the affect the Tsunami has brought upon the lives of its victims. The project encouraged the children to express their feelings through discussion and through the process of creating art. Artist Meera George said of her workshop, "The project focused on the Tsunami devastation and the Thai festival of Loi Krathong, which inspired the workshop and the making of paper lanterns. The sessions got the children to focus on the things they are thankful for in comparison to what the victims of the Tsunami lost."  | | Underwater mural by Throckley First |
In a letter of thanks to Meera George, the children of West Jesmond Primary School perhaps summed up best the success behind the Journey's End project: "It was very exciting working with a proper artist like you. We loved it when we were creating the colourful pictures." | 
