Mosaic in schools, a competition sponsored by Topps Tiles for 2012
2010 winners
‘Mega Mosaic Makers’, celebrating creative mosaic art in primary schools, is organised by BAMM, the British Association of Modern Mosaic and sponsored by Topps Tiles. It has three objectives:
• To run an annual primary school mosaic art competition.
• To make funding available to schools to assist with future mosaic projects. This year in 2012 it’s all about the Olympics!
• To engage children from an early age so they may be our craftmakers of the future.
For 2012, we plan to help schools celebrate the greatest sporting event in the world, the Olympics! President of BAMM, Gary Drostle, says “The British Association for Modern Mosaic is very excited to see the continued development of the Mega Mosaic Competition. 2012 will be a great spotlight for both sporting and cultural activities across the UK and we looking forward to seeing the mosaic contribution our schools can make towards this Olympic event.”.
To this end Topps Tiles have sponsored 20 schools to make a mosaic which celebrates this special event. Kits were sent out early May and contain an exciting array of colourful tiles - in plenty of time for the school summer term. When the creation is finished the result can be entered via this website into the 2012 Mega Mosaic Makers competition. The competition will invite entries from September until the end of October 2012. It could win one of the amazing prizes (£1,400 worth of mosaic materials are on offer, see prizes page) - any mosaic about any theme is eligible for the competition but we really hope to see Olympic wings feature in at least a few of them!
(The deadline for applying has passed and schools have been informed - there will be another opportunity to apply again this autumn, tba)
A worksheet with invaluable information about how to go about making a mosaic in a school – written by Oliver Budd, a talented, experienced artist and veteran of many school projects and public art installations is now available to download from this website on the ‘education’ page, entitled a ‘typical school project’. There are also many other useful hints and tips and sample projects on this website, also under ‘Education’.
“An important part of being a “good neighbour” for Topps Tiles is ensuring we are active in the communities’ local to our stores and places where we work. We have a strong Corporate Social Responsibility ethic at Topps and this is reflected in the work we do within our community and charity programmes.
Mosaic art is fast becoming a growing craft across the UK and Topps is proud to lead the way supporting the promotion of mosaic as both a public art and an educational craft skill for children across the country. The level of submissions in the Mega Mosaic Makers Competition has been outstanding and now in our fourth year of support, our enthusiasm and commitment remains unwavering to this fabulous competition, that allows primary schools to have the opportunity to showcase their work on a national stage”.
Amongst many amazing Olympic themed activities taking place all over the Uk this summer – we believe at least some of them must be in the medium of mosaic!
The prizes are generously donated by Topps Tiles, with the winning entry attracting £500 in mosaic materials. Existing mosaic projects and newly created projects can both be entered - previous entries can also be seen on the archived 2008 – 2010 competition pages.
Emma Fortes of Topps Tiles said;
“Topps Tiles is delighted to be part of Mega Mosaic Makers. Last year’s competition was a huge success and we are looking forward to another sponsorship year. Making mosaics is all about tiles and it is exciting to see how children use them to create such wonderful art. We work with many schools and groups on community mosaic projects, and, thanks to Mega Mosaic Makers, primary schools now have the opportunity to showcase their work on a national stage”
Be sure to visit our page on mosaic making in Nepal. This is an interesting resource for schools who might like to learn about how mosaic making in a third world country is helping some of the most disadvantagedand excluded in their society.
The competition is sponsored by Topps Tiles and organised by BAMM, The British Association for Modern Mosaics. BAMM recognises that introducing mosaic art into schools is an exciting way of increasing enthusiasm and understanding of the art. Mosaic making has many unique benefits to offer schools including: links with curriculum subjects; an exciting combination of art and craft skills; the chance for many to come together to improve our environment, not to mention teamwork, dexterity, building confidence and just having good fun! Children are vitalised by the challenge of being introduced to this ancient craft, colour and construction stimulate their senses and charge the imagination, dull educational establishments and stark play areas can be transformed with bright works of art and give the pupils an immense sense of pride in their achievements and a new respect for their environment.
If you are a teacher or artist with a successful project to share please contact this website and we will feature it.
If you are a professional mosaic artist and a BAMM member and would like to be listed on our new artists contact page please contact Anne Cardwell (Via this website).
Many thanks are due to Topps Tiles for organising the generous sponsorship which has made this competition possible. Topps Tiles support the community and many mosaics have been produced with their support. Some are featured on the community page, if your school has worked with Topps and you would like to see your work displayed here please email photographs and text to topps@megamosaicmakers.org.uk.
Learn more about BAMM, the British Association for Modern Mosaics.
BAMM was founded in 1999 and exists to promote, encourage and support excellence in contemporary mosaic art and to raise public awareness of modern mosaic art through exhibitions, publications, events and related educational activities. By joining BAMM you have access to an enormous amount of information about mosaic making, from enthusiast to professional, some of most emminent names in the British mosaic world are active members. Members are entitled to ‘Grout’, which is BAMM’s fantastic regular source of news, reviews, information and inspiration from the world of mosaics, published three times a year in full colour and is exclusive to members. Every BAMM member can exhibit their work both in the exclusive members section of the website, which is an internationally recognised portal for mosaic enthusiasts, and also submit work to exhibitions at various UK locations. You can also find out information and links to many other mosaic related sites. ‘Andamento’ is the annual journal free for BAMM members which looks in depth at modern mosaics and recent mosaic history. Andamento is also available to buy online on the BAMM site. A growing number of mosaic tile and equipment suppliers offer discounts on their products to BAMM members. Various memberships are available, including an ‘education’ membership.
www.bamm.org.uk
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