You may think that Devonport lost its unparalleled talent in the art of portraiture when Sir Joshua Reynolds moved his studio from the area more than two centuries ago. But we at Plymouth Culture say that simply isn’t true. In fact, the art is alive and kicking in the community — and it’s Devonport’s young people who are proving to be the portrait masters of the future.

‘Image by Jimmy Swindells Photography, courtesy of Real Ideas’

Year 5 and 6 pupils at Mount Wise Primary School in the heart of the Devonport community painted an outstanding array of portraits over two workshop sessions at the end of January — and their captivating works will be on show at the end of February and start of March during the Dazzle! Devonport’s Festival of Light, Creativity and Heritage.

Behind both the portrait painting sessions and the Dazzle festival, which will take place between 27 February and 2 March 2025, is Real Ideas. And the Real Ideas team won’t just display the Mount Wise pupils’ works at Devonport’s historic Market Hall — which is built on the site of Sir Reynolds’ first studio — throughout the festival but they will also projection map the portraits on to iconic buildings across the area over the four days.

Lucy Hamilton, Real Ideas’ marketing and admin assistant, helped the Mount Wise pupils with their portraits during the workshops in January. She said she was ‘really looking forward to the Dazzle festival’. She said: “The children had such a lot of fun creating the portraits — and they learned so much too about history, art and their own community in Devonport.”

“These sessions,” she added, “were really engaging and that community element has been so important — when they get to see their portraits up on the buildings and on the walls at the festival, we hope that they will feel like they are not only more connected to the Devonport community of today but also to the area’s rich and inspirational past too.”

Set to Dazzle

The Dazzle festival is part of the Devonport 200 celebrations which last year marked the 200th anniversary of the founding of Devonport, an area and community that has experienced extreme change over the years. Dazzle — itself an homage to the Royal Navy’s groundbreaking use of ‘dazzle camouflage’ over the past century — aims to make the area ‘come alive’ through the free-to-access festival which will take visitors and local residents on a captivating journey through 200 years of local history while it also looks ahead to the ‘exciting future’ of the area.

Expect the Dazzle festival to ‘illuminate an area of Devonport in new ways’. The projection mapping itself will be inspired by Devonport’s rich heritage and the ‘dazzle camouflage’ — plus, there will also be ‘interactive light installations and soundscapes for all ages’, as well as ‘360-degree immersive experiences’ at Europe’s biggest immersive dome inside Market Hall. Also expect ‘roaming performances’ and ‘more dazzling surprises’ in the area throughout.

As for the portrait workshops at Mount Wise Primary in James Street run by Real Ideas — a South West social enterprise that manages Devonport Guildhall, Ocean Studios at Royal William Yard and Market Hall — these have been heralded as a success by the organisers.

During the first session, the Real Ideas team and teachers talked about the history of portraiture alongside Jilly Payne, archive film programmer from The Box, the city’s award-winning museum, archive and gallery. They talked about hugely influential 18th century painter Sir Joshua Reynolds, who specialised in portraits and set up his first studio in Plymouth Dock — now Devonport — in the 1740s. They also learned about who Sir Reynolds had painted — such as senior ranking Royal Navy officers — and why.

The children painted their own portraits at the sessions two weeks later. These were crafted within the borders they had created and screen-printed a fortnight before. Those borders each featured iconic locations around Devonport, including the famous red, blue and green blocks known as Devonport Towers and the beautiful Devonport Column that overlooks the area.

Self-portraits and masterpieces

Some pupils painted a portrait of themselves while others painted someone they love, a friend or, well, whoever they wanted. It was a buzzing, fun, creative and fascinating session for the children who worked in three classrooms across the school campus.

Year 5 teacher at Mount Wise Primary, Chris Jones, was on hand throughout the sessions to help guide the youngsters through their art. He said it was a ‘fun’ series of events and it was great to see the children not only supported by the teachers but by the Real Ideas team too. He said: “They have thrived throughout this project. They are proud of Devonport and to know their work will be shown and enjoyed by others here — and to give something back to the community — is just brilliant.”

Ten-year-old Taylor-Rose, of Year 5, did a portrait of her mum during the sessions. “I chose my mum because I love her,” she said. “Learning how to do portraits was fun and so was learning about Devonport and history.”

Friends and companions

Anjola, also in Year 5, chose to paint ‘my friend in my mind’ for his portrait. The creative 10-year-old’s imaginary pal is called Elysium and he’s a ‘wolf hybrid’. “He asked me to do a portrait of him,” said Anjola. “I also included the Nigerian flag in the picture as that’s my original country. I liked having Devonport around the sides and a Nigerian flag in the portrait.”

Anjola said he used ‘lava colours’ and his ‘favourite shade of red’ set against a dark background. He said: “I love being expressive with drawing and painting. I feel happy about our portraits going up in Devonport.”

Laura Adams, Real Ideas’ innovation and inclusion lead, concluded with a message for everyone across Plymouth and beyond. She said: “Join us at Dazzle to see these fantastic portraits up close and for a wonderful celebration of Devonport, its history and its community.”

To find out more about the Dazzle festival, see: here.

Story by Matt Fleming