Tutor and AAL Fine Art graduate Lorna McNeill collaborates with the Langley Academy on an exiting new project entitled ‘Slough and the universe: A project inspired by light’.

Taking the discoveries of eighteenth century astronomer William Herschel (who was based in Slough, Berkshire) as inspiration, Lorna explores the interplay between science, art and museums during her six month residency.

Working in partnership with Jenny Blay, Head of Museum Learning at the Langley Academy, Lorna will be making a series of fibre optic based light installations that draw on themes of astrophysics and aim to connect people with universal creative processes. The project is supported using public funding by the National Lottery through the Arts Council’s Grants for the Arts programme.

The sculptures will be a springboard for development of a series of workshops for children, young people, and adults to facilitate creative expression about the universe and our place within it. The workshops will trigger the development of other projects across science and art. After an initial pilot with Slough students and residents, the longer term plan is to incorporate discoveries from the small sculptures into one large installation to be showcased at the Langley Academy.

Several exhibitions of the work are being organised for Autumn. A presentation and workshop about this project will be delivered on 1st July at the Langley Academy Annual Museum Learning Conference: Challenge, Context, Content.