Osnabrück, June 2021

In art educational actions, children and young people from Sutthaus designed an object, which together with the work of the artist and stone sculptor Frank Gillich became the ensemble "Growing and growing together".

The Osnabrück artist and first winner of the Osnabrück Art Prize, Frank Gillich, teaches at the university, has distinguished himself through various successful art education projects with schoolchildren and also imparts his knowledge to adults in workshops and practical seminars, among other things.

As part of the 50th "birthday" of the Sutthausen district, the two-part sculpture was a continuation of the project work with children and young people that has always been supported by the Bürgerverein Sutthausen. While the focus was initially on the students of the elementary school, the attention was expanded in the course and the young people of Sutthausen were also included in the process: in addition to students of the elementary school Sutthausen, students of the vocational schools in the Marienheim as well as interested young people from the Sutthausen clubs and associations were now also involved in this project.

Both works (that of the children/youth and that of the artist) result as an ensemble in the sculpture "Growing and growing together" in the public space of Sutthausen.

The students of the Marienheim had started their work on the stone last November for four weeks, divided into two groups of 12 people each, at the old crushing plant on the Piesberg.

In Frank Gillich's studio, the participants first received an age-appropriate introduction to the subjects of art and stone sculpture and learned about the appropriate tools needed for practical work on stone. Soft, small-format shell limestone from the Weserbergland region was used for the work.

Before the Easter vacations, as part of a project week on the outdoor grounds of the Sutthausen elementary school, work was done in stone with the students there in an age-appropriate manner, thus completing another part of the work of art with them.

At the end of April, interested young people from the Sutthausen clubs and associations followed suit to realize their ideas in stone with Frank Gillich.

The artwork Growing and Growing Together, in which all works - including the work of the artist Frank Gillich - were combined, will be inaugurated on July 2, 2021 on an area next to the elementary school Sutthausen and will be open to the public from then on.

Photos: Frank Gillich