Wey Valley Academy had the pleasure and the privilege of inviting Lorna Brunstein, mixed media and installation artist, to run a workshop with our Year 10 GCSE Art students. Brunstein is a second-generation Holocaust survivor whose mother survived a German slave-labour camp and whose grandmother died in Auschwitz. Her work delves into themes of memory, loss, identity, and inherited trauma. As a second-generation Holocaust survivor, she draws deeply from her family's history to create emotionally resonant art that connects personal experiences with universal themes.  Lorna's notable projects include Sanctuary and Exile, which commemorates the 75th anniversary of the arrival of the 'Windermere Children' to the UK, and After Auschwitz, an immersive multimedia installation reflecting on her visits to the Auschwitz-Birkenau death camp.

In this workshop, Brunstein reflected on her work, career, and family history in the shadow of World War Two. She emphasised the importance of remembering the atrocities of the Holocaust, while also highlighting the mental health benefits of creating work that explores and processes one's own painful memories and trauma in an artistic setting. The Year 10 group brought sentimental/personal objects in and after discussion with Lorna started to create art n response. Students were encouraged to explore how they could represent memories and trauma in their work and were shown installation techniques such as printing photographs of their objects onto acetate sheets and arranging them on a projector. In future lessons, these acetate collages will be developed into fully fledged installation works of art.

One student said 'this was such a powerful and thought-provoking art workshop'.  Mark Damon Chutter, Head of Performing Arts, said 'thank you for inspiring us to use art as a tool for remembrance, reflection, and emotional expression'.  The work created from this workshop will be exhibited in the new gallery at Dorchester Arts in January to mark Holocaust Memorial.