Bow Arts speaks to Artist Educator Sara Heywood as she shares information about her practice, and provides insight into working with young people.

Thank you so much for being a part of Bow Arts’ 30th Anniversary campaign, can you introduce yourself and tell us a little about your practice?

Hello, I am Sara.

I am a multi-disciplinary visual artist and Artist Educator. I have lived and brought up a family in Bow, east London for 25 years. Over that time, I’ve come to feel very much part of the local community, both within the art community and within my education practice, working with lots of local schools and galleries.

My practice is process and project driven and incorporates installation, photography, drawing, sculpture, and video. An intrinsic part of the work is a dialogue between people and place, the layers that make up the identity of a site, and the point where natural and manmade environments and materials converge and impact one another.

I really enjoy the research and development stage of my working process. This is the time for exploration and freedom, as well as problem solving, without the pressure of a finished outcome. I might explore locality, heritage, social and personal narratives, ecologies or built environments, before I edit or respond with the most appropriate media. The final artworks tend to be site specific and encourage physical interaction with the viewer. I like to create playful, unexpected ways of looking at the everyday world around us.

What is the drive/ motivation behind your work?

My practice is driven by the connections and collisions that exist between manmade/ urban space and nature. It feels that there is an urgency as to how we understand the impact that both play on one another and what legacy humans leave behind on the land for future generations.

Photography and drawing are an integral part of recording and plotting this, as well as using found or natural materials, in an attempt to understand a specific site, to respond to what narratives drive it, and to leave as little permanent imprint on it as possible.

The Bird Hide (2018) RAW Lab Artist in Residence, Royal Albert Wharf Docks, London, UK. Interactive semi-permanent installation, Royal Albert Wharf, east London. The response to an artist residency exploring local environment, wildlife and proximity to London City Airport. Commissioned by Bow Arts Trust in association with Notting Hill Housing.

You have been working with Bow Arts as an Artist Educator for over 14 years across a number of different primary and secondary schools, are there any projects that you are particularly proud of in that time?

I’m proud of all the projects and people that I have collaborated with during my years as an Artist Educator at Bow Arts! I love the variation of skills, techniques, and ages that I get to work with and I find that young people always come to each project with such enthusiasm and talent that it’s a privilege to encourage and give them confidence to go far with their artistic endeavours. I believe it’s important to not dumb down art and people’s abilities. Art is certainly not a secondary subject, it has the ability to cross the boundaries of all curriculum subjects and to be a crucial part of all learning.

I’m particularly proud of working with people where you can see a noticeable increase in their confidence over the project. This might be teachers (in CPD workshops) as well as with younger participants, particularly those who might not appear to shine in other subjects and suddenly come alive when talking about and making art.

Can you talk to us about a material, process, or routine that is essential to the way you work with young people?

I believe that drawing is a crucial starting point for any project, whether it be within my own practice or within my educational projects. Drawing is the building block for observing, responding, planning, thinking, and understanding a subject and it can be a very exciting, varied medium in its own right. You can go large, small, delicate, or bold, it can be both meditative and performative…it really is whatever you want it to be! And I love this playful and open ended approach to making and learning.

I also enjoy encouraging students to experiment and appreciate that there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way to draw and that everyone can do it. It also seems to make sense to me as the stepping stone to going on to working in other mediums. Students naturally move forward once they have the ground work that ‘looking’ allows.

More recently, I have also become obsessed with photography (digital and analogue) and perceive it very much as another form of drawing. It’s been exciting to see how young people respond to analogue photography in particular. It’s allowed a slowing down and a more hands on, layered approach to making and to teaching, and creates a blurring of the lines of what people traditionally perceive as art.

What have you learned through working with different schools and young people, and what do you enjoy the most?

Over the years, my own practice and education work have become more embedded. My practice has become more socially responsive, and my education work has definitely shown me how to be playful and confident in collaborating with other people. I love the unexpected interactions that arise from collaboration, plus I think I’m just too nosy! I love to learn about other people’s lives and ideas, the narratives of how they’ve come to be there, and to give agency to different voices that might not otherwise get the chance to be heard.

Finally, what are you up to at the moment and where can we find your work?

Presently, I am working with Olga School in Tower Hamlets to update a permanent history display that stands in the school’s entrance area. I originally created the artwork in 2021 to celebrate the fascinating history and archives of the school and the local area around Roman Road, E3. The artwork has become a great source for learning for the students. Recently, I have been working with Year 5 classes to explore their school’s legacy as we move forward, through creating new soundscapes inspired by locality, layered drawings celebrating the school’s Edible Garden, and 3D paper constructions inspired by games and toys throughout the ages.

In September, I am going to dedicate some time to my own practice. I am very lucky to have been invited for a month as artist in residence at PADA Studios in Lisbon, Portugal, where I will be responding site-specifically to a post industrial park at Barreiro, which is being reclaimed by nature.

More about Sara Heywood

Sara Heywood has exhibited widely across the UK and abroad, has undertaken several international artist in residency programmes and commissions, and was recently short-listed for the 7th John Ruskin Prize 2025 for her artwork Camera Obscura – Hertford Union Canal (2024).

Sara is also an experienced visual arts educator. She has worked with schools, gallery and community settings including Barbican Centre, Bow Arts Trust, Camden Art Centre, Chisenhale Gallery & Art Place (CAP), Cubitt Arts, South London Gallery and Whitechapel Gallery.

Sara has partnered closely with Bow Arts for over 14 years as lead Artist Educator on many projects in primary and secondary schools including temporary and permanent site commissions, process- led and skills-based workshops, Arts Award programmes, Teacher CPD training, and as Advisor for Art & Design curriculum planning.

You can follow her upcoming residency and working practice at:

Instagram: @sara.heywood | Website: www.saraheywood.net