Gascoigne and Greatfields School

Be First has been working in collaboration with contractor Willmott Dixon and Studio 3 Arts to install a series of artworks. To be shown on the site’s hoardings in three different places, the designs will be the first in a series of artworks on construction sites across the borough to celebrate the history, heritage and the future of the area.

These artworks by artist Elaine Tribley is the culmination of a project with Greatfields School. Elaine worked with students from the school who responded to her brief ‘The Estate of Gascoyne’ in March 2021. The students created a series of different artworks that included 21^st century self-portraits in the style of local dignitaries such as Sir Crisp Gascoyne and Mrs Margaret Bamber and drawings of the rich and interesting heritage of the area.

‘This is our home’. This design has been developed by extracting elements of students’ drawings, creating clusters of buildings, fish and leaves. Each element is a response to the rich heritage and natural resources within the Gascoigne neighbourhood and the town of Barking. From buildings of historical interest to the vast variety of trees and the fishing histories that framed the town's origins.

‘We Are Greatfields School’, students’ self-portraits have been extracted and placed on a ‘wallpaper’ pattern background created by using leaves drawn by the students. The artwork has been spaced out like a grand hall of framed portraits found in homes such as the Gascoyne Manor House which once stood on the Gascoigne neighbourhood.