A Sheffield Hallam graduate has been selected to lead a project to create a virtual art gallery to encourage creativity in special needs and primary school children

Press contact: Luke Fowler | l.fowler@shu.ac.uk

Kit Fielder, a graduate of the Digital Media Production course at Sheffield Hallam University, is working with Immersive Reality and XR Stories on the unique gallery that will be putting art into a shared immersive space.

The project will encourage creativity in primary school children by engaging them in a virtual art gallery. The children will be able to click on a piece of art and in doing so they will uncover various details, ranging from information about the artists themselves, to how the art was produced.

Sheffield Hallam graduate Zoe Genders and Sheffield born Geo Law are two of the artists whose work will feature in the virtual gallery. The artwork of Bel MacAulay and Chloe Hodgson will also be included.

Immersive Reality’s ethos is “inclusion” achieved by being easy to use and allowing access for all. The designers believe that the project will encourage the children to collaborate in group activities and boost their creative thinking, as well as inspiring any future young artists.

The initiative that Kit has been selected for supports research and development for companies in the Yorkshire and Humber region who are working at the cutting-edge of digital technologies.

These companies are hoping to pioneer a new future in storytelling and believe that projects like the virtual gallery will encourage this.

Kit Fielder said: “Being Project Manager has been really exciting and opened up so many great opportunities. I was able to work along-side a great team at Immersive Reality and collaborate with some really talented artists to bring together an inspiring and educational experience.

“I feel there is still so much to explore with virtual reality so I would love to continue to work and study in this field to see what direction it takes. I feel Immersive Reality’s push towards a more inclusive experience is great and I would like to carry that forward with my future projects.”

Richard Adam, Managing Director at Immersive Reality, said: “The pandemic highlighted a wider need as museums and galleries were locked down, and at the same time we saw more art and crafts on television and other media, as lead by Grayson Perry's Art Club on Channel 4. This inspired us to consider how we might create an immersive gallery. The opportunity for funding came from XR Stories and through Anne Doncaster at Sheffield Hallam we were able to create a framework for the project.”

“Off the back of this project we are adding a creative arts installation where we have a second image that creates a set of walls and we can then effectively give children a virtual spray-can to create graffiti.”

Anne Doncaster, Kit’s academic supervisor and lecturer in Digital Media Production at Sheffield Hallam University said: “The brief for the project was quite open and Richard wanted Kit to run with it, bringing in his own ideas. This has meant that Kit has learnt to work out his own way of going about things and think for himself. It’s been a really good experience for his portfolio.”

Sheffield Hallam University have created the immersive arts MA course which will start in September and is open for applications now.