Boutcher Primary School Art collaboration
Rotherhithe artist Ed Gray has been artist in residence at Boutcher Primary School for five years in a unique collaborative partnership between artist and school to create art projects that celebrate the values of the school. Their latest ambitious art collaboration was inspired by working life in Southwark and funded by the Dyers’ Guild.
In September 2025 Ed and the school began seeking partner businesses in Southwark who were interested in visits from small groups of pupils from Year 5 with the aim of sketching people in their work environments. It was an opportunity for creative conversations about what constitutes a successful and fulfilling working life. These 9 and 10-year-old pupils have now created a series of 19 large scale paintings on canvas for public exhibition at Southwark Council HQ in Tooley Street.
Expect to see a celebration of the best of Southwark revealed through art – the Mayor Sunny Lambe, a barrister, a blacksmith, a bishop, a beautician, a butchers’, a Biscuit Factory biogas startup, a florist, a fishmonger, a Pilates teacher, a combat trainer, the man who opens Tower Bridge, a mechanic, a fashion designer, an artist, a brewery, trainee dentists at Guy’s Hospital, Dockhead Fire crew, chefs at Tower Tandoori and volunteer workers in a foodbank.
‘Our aim,’ says Gray, ‘was to create a project that introduced pupils to the world of work and gave our chosen subjects the chance to discuss their working lives in a relaxed atmosphere whilst being sketched by the pupils. The pupils witnessed the routines of working life first-hand and listened and asked questions of our hosts as they sketched.
‘As a result of these intense and emotional bursts of experiences they have created wonderful paintings, but more importantly they have enjoyed life-changing, memorable meetings with some of the remarkable ,passionate and creative working people of Southwark, from all walks of life, who opened their doors and welcomed us in.’
At a time when AI is changing the way we work, this series of paintings captures so much of the life of the times we live in. Interpersonal skills, creativity, ingenuity, dedication, humanity and love, each one a cornerstone of community, seen through the eyes of the youngest and most impressionable members of our community.
Southwark Council HQ in Tooley Street Open to the public Monday- Friday
10-4pm from Monday 16th Feb
Ends Friday 27th Feb
