Das fliegende Künstlerzimmer

What makes our school special … 

We collaborate in the sense of integrated support of personal development and the inclusion of our students in all areas of society. We empower our students by giving them individual assistance so that they can experience things as an individual and achieve and expand their own competencies: contributing to securing their own livelihoods, experiencing and shaping their environment, an getting their bearings in social situations and helping shape them.

Alongside cognitive development, there is a particular focus on encouraging communication, expanding the students’ decision-making and responsibility, and supporting their personal development so that they can lead as independent a life integrated in society as possible. To achieve these objectives, participation in cultural education and the encouragement of creativity are essential building blocks in lessons and in school life.

The aim is to encourage the students through individual learning objectives and different educational offers. What’s important here are the principles of an holistic approach, self-motivation, self-direction and co-determination, structuring and visualisation, the norms of alternative communication and social learning.

Living and learning in the community is of particular significance at our school. Based on a positive school atmosphere, the students are accepted just as they are and have space to develop their personality.

Why we wanted to have a flying artist’s room on our playground …
We see creativity as a means through which people can develop and realise their potential, actively help shape their environment and consequently co-determine change and transformation. 

Within the meaning of encouraging a concept of the self, the field of artistic/creative design offers various opportunities for self-discovery. Through exploration and by meeting and collaborating with the artist, our students are given possibilities to try things out and have an everyday opportunity to participate in culture.

Our students with mental and physical disabilities have different ideas and expectations of personal development. They have different resources and artistic abilities and interests. So it makes sense to encourage and promote a variety of design opportunities.

This makes it possible not only to address the interests students have and thus focus on an intrinsic examination of their motivation, but to show them new experiences and forms of expression and let them try them out. This will encourage a range of personal participation. 

In our view, the development of their own means of aesthetic expression through artistic encouragement makes an important contribution to our students’ personal development and their participation in society and culture.

We’d like to go on a creative journey with the artist. What’s crucial here is not necessarily the end result; rather our focus is much more on the process itself. Spontaneity, delight at experimentation and perception of situations are important factors here. In these creative processes, to a large extent the students experience their actions very consciously, they experience themselves as self-effective, they try out what they can do, feel materials, and develop their creative and social competencies.

With our chosen artist we would like to produce artistic projects that further enhance the competencies of our mentally and physically disabled students. The first encounter, the relationship building, the shared experience and work, and the development of a new field of experience should enrich and boost the creativity of our students in all kinds of ways and with all kinds of means.

Our hope is that through this collaboration and the shared life in school, structures can be changed and new lesson models can be developed together. Aesthetic experiences in day-to-day life at school and school life can be possible for everyone. We learn from each other in order to discover and experience new potential among our students and teachers.

Why it specifically had to be a visual artist …
The best area for taking our students’ very different learning needs into consideration is the field of art and creativity. Tasks can be adapted to the students’ learning needs. The students can experience self-efficacy at different levels and in all kinds of artistic fields. Work can be done individually or together; shared and individual works can be created.

Our first impression of the mobile architecture …
We first encountered the flying artist’s room at documenta 15 and were immediately fascinated by its architecture. The flying artist’s room is a mobile studio in which every artistic activity can be envisaged. It will be a visual highlight on our playground. The sense of space that emerges supports its visitors’ creative processes in a special way. 

“The artist who’s been selected doesn’t just come to our school with his art, but with his Japanese culture as well.”

Direct quote teaching staff

Joys and challenges …
We’re looking forward to a close collaboration with the artist and to co-designing creative processes and school life. One of the challenges will be to find a balance between the artist’s own artistic creation and his collaboration with our students and teachers.

“I see the flying artist’s room as an artistic and social meeting place in our playground.”

Direct quote teaching staff

How we’ll feel when the flying artist’s room moves on after two years…
When the artist goes, it will mean the departure of a familiar person who has helped shape and made a mark on school life over the two years and contributed to the school opening up. He will leave behind traces that remain visible but will also have changed our work in the area of aesthetics and creativity, and in learning across and between subjects on a lasting basis. He will have become a member of our school community and we will miss him. The flying artist’s room will leave behind an empty spot on the playground, but it will continue to be present in our minds. We’ll miss the artistic creation in this wonderful space.