Children from St James Primary School with their origami swans
Children from St James Primary School with their origami swans

Hundreds of origami swans will be on display in Lichfield after a huge effort by a local artist.

During June and July, Celia Houghton has run workshops at local primary schools including  St James Primary, St Josephs, Chadsmead Primary, Charnwood Primary, Lichfield Willows Primary and Greysbrooke Primary.

As part of the workshops children followed in the footsteps of poet Anna Seward – the Swan of Lichfield –  and wrote their own verses before converting their work into an origami swan.

Around 545 youngsters participated in the project, which also saw Celia – who is also Lichfield District Council’s arts officer – introduce the children to Dr Johnson, asking them to create their own word and definition for a children’s dictionary for the city.

The project and exhibition was funded by supermarket chain Tesco and the company’s spokesman Tony Fletcher said:

“We are delighted with the outcome of Celia’s latest workshop event.  The  response of the children, schools and local community together with the commitment of the artist  has been overwhelming.  We look forward to seeing the results of all of the projects in due course.”

The origami swans will form the centre of a larger collection that will be displayed in Lichfield soon. The scheme will also see further art activities about Seward carried out and other tributes to the Swan of Lichfield produced as a result of community involvement.

Project co-ordinator Peter Walker said:

“At the centre of the art projects we are running is the objective to get people involved in the arts. Art is far more than just drawing a picture of something you see and by involving children in creating art we are introducing them to a plethora of imaginative ways to look at the world.

“In Celia we have a perfect artist, skilled in opening the eyes of children to the possibilities of art and I am delighted that her commitment has resulting in such beautiful results.”

Founder of Lichfield Live and editor of the site.