A ‘MUSEUM Machina’ project has brought historical artifacts to life in Teignbridge schools.

Contemporary artists Katy Connor and Tony Minnion delivered workshops at Coombeshead Academy and Haytor View Primary School using collections from Exeter’s Royal Albert Memorial Museum and Art Gallery and Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.

The project is a partnership between the two city museums and Daisi arts organisation, and is funded by the Arts Council.

Katy Connor led Haytor Primary School pupils through a series of creative experiments using Google Earth, digital photography and GPS drawing to introduce ideas around perspective, scale and viewpoint.

The hand-drawn maps from collections were used to discuss different ways maps are created, and how space and place are visualised using traditional and satellite mapping techniques.

The children created their own maps and models of satellites using drawing, painting, projections, sculpture and photography.

Katy said: ‘The museum maps were essential to the workshops as a comparison means of mapping site and location. We discussed them in relation to how maps used to be made and how we map now using Google Earth and satellites.’

A group of students at Coombeshead Academy explored a miner’s lamp from Plymouth Museum. They used the idea of the lamp’s ‘lens’ to allow the viewer to see through to a different place and time.

Another group created pieces of digital visual art using the image of the lamp overlaid with images of miners taken from historic photographs.

One of the students said: ‘It’s really changed my perception of art, how diverse and different it can be using technology.’

Another added: ‘It’s really different working with an artist, when they are exploring their work and they are so passionate about it. It’s given me motivation to do new work.’