Hundreds of schoolchildren have taken part in Tall Ships-themed art and writing workshops at Falmouth Art Gallery over the past couple of months.

The gallery has been running free workshops for schools wanting to take part in the Tall Ships’ Big Art and Storytelling Project which have seen children creating their own paintings, stories, poems and plays in response to the official painting by the event’s artist in residence, John Dyer.

The workshops have been delivered by the gallery’s award winning education team in collaboration with artists John Dyer and Jo Short along with the project’s creative producer, John Frankland, and creative writing students from Falmouth University, in |the hope of inspiring youngsters to enter the competition.

Charlotte Davis, access and interpretation manager at the gallery, said: “The buzz generated in the gallery and at schools during the workshops has been fantastic. It has been absolute pleasure to work with the children and the reward has been evident by their smiling faces as they hold their finished painting or story ready to submit for the competition.”

John Dyer added: “I believe that the most memorable and potentially valuable days at school for any child are trips out into the real world. One of the aims of the Big Art and Storytelling Tall Ships Project is to encourage schools across Cornwall to bring their children to a public art gallery, to experience the wide variety of art, to soak up the atmosphere, and to immerse their creative minds in art and stories. Falmouth Art Gallery has taken on this role with relish and has had a huge impact on children all across the county. It is an absolute joy to be part of this process and to see the enrichment and creative fun the project has delivered to hundreds of children. I think we can all feel proud of our efforts.”