Ace idea leads to Haverstock School pupils’ work going on display at the V&A

Pupils from a Chalk Farm school will be making waves in the art world when their work goes on display as part of a V&A exhibition on youth culture that launches tomorrow (Friday).

Haverstock School on Haverstock Hill was approached by community organisation Full Spectrum Productions to paint a wall mural of a 1950s diner for the Hanging Out - Youth Culture then and now display.

The students decided to base the mural on the ACE cafe in Stonebridge, a legendary motorcycle venue which featured in the 1964 film The Leather Boys.

Sunshine Coward, head of Art, said: “Although the students did not grow up in the 1950s and 1960s, they could relate to it. This is when the concept of being a teenager came about.

‘‘The students looked at the fashion and the culture of the time and put together a series of paintings inspired by pop artist Peter Blake and their visit to ACE cafe.”

The six-foot mural, painted by eight Year 10 GCSE art and design students, will be used as a backdrop for performance monologues, based on oral history interviews.

The exhibition will look at London’s youth culture from the 1950s to 1960s. It will focus on the key social and political influences in fashion, film, music, entertainment, sport and protests and will also explore the impact of those events on today’s youth.

It will run until September 4 and entrance is free.

It is not the first time the school has been involved in leading arts projects. Earlier this year, pupils painted a large decorative egg which was one of 209 eggs on display across the capital as part of a fundraising initiative by charities Action for Children and Elephant Family.

In Hampstead, a Year 9 pupil was celebrating after her work was selected as the winning entry for the borough of Camden in this year’s Trafalgar Square Fourth Plinth Schools’ award.

Stella Ralph, 14 of St Margaret’s School, Kidderpore Gardens, created a concept called Facing London for the competition, which asks pupils to design an artwork for the fourth plinth in Trafalgar Square.

It features a mirrored cube which reflects different views of Trafalgar Square.

Miss Ralph, of All Souls Avenue, Queen’s Park said: “It was quite a shock. I liked the idea of seeing London from a different perspective. A lot of people will be travelling here for the Olympics and will see us differently from the way we see ourselves.

“Anybody looking at it will see it differently. When you walk towards it, you see part of yourself.”

Her work will form part of an exhibition which will run until May 17 at City Hall.