Authentic Art making in Y8: Using Text and Portraiture to Define Humanity

What Does It Mean to Be Human?

Today, our Y8 students at XP School explored this guiding question in the most powerful, creative and authentic way — alongside the incredible Michelle Clarke-Stables.

Working shoulder-to-shoulder with Michelle, students created a legacy artwork that will live on in our school: a large-scale micrography portrait of Frida Kahlo, built entirely from handwritten words, reflections and quotes that answer our guiding question.

Every mark is a voice.

Every layer is a story.

Every word speaks to the messy, beautiful, painful and resilient nature of being human.

Frida Kahlo feels like the perfect muse for this work. Her life was shaped by courage, compassion and fierce tenacity — choosing colour in the face of pain, truth in the face of silence, and creativity in the face of adversity. She epitomises what we hope our students discover: that being human is about resilience, tenderness, and the bravery to tell your story.

Watching students collaborate, debate, write, paint and truly see one another was extraordinary. Michelle brought out the best of them — their empathy, their curiosity, their willingness to be bold with ideas and generous with meaning.

This is what authentic Art education looks like.

This is legacy work.

This is XP. 💙

Thank you, Michelle, for inspiring our students to make something deeply human, and deeply unforgettable.

#ArtEducation #XPTrust #ProjectBasedLearning #FridaKahlo #BeingHuman #LegacyWork #Creativity #Compassion #StudentVoice #MichelleClarkeStables

Y8 Art Fieldwork – Wednesday 27th November

Year 8 have the amazing opportunity to take part in a day of art workshops in Leeds for fieldwork to do with their ‘Being Human’ expedition. 

One of the basics of humanity is our ability to create, and the students will be involved in practical workshops from the Leeds Art Gallery and the Henry Moore Institute on Wednesday the 27th of November.

This fieldwork will take place during the school day so it is important that your child arrives on time for the coach which will leave during crew.

Please make sure your child brings a packed lunch, as they will be eating in the gallery spaces. Free school meals will be provided for students who usually have them.