"On the Line", Sally Chinea

"On the Line" is a large scale arts/hertitage project that will work with twenty Essex schools - (both primary and secondary) which are  based along the  Thames Estuary. The aim is to follow the route of the London, Tilbury and Southend Railway.

The Project is both funded and curated by Metal and aims to create a high calibre arts priject that will result in a greater understanding of the shared histories of the communities that exsist along the north bank of the Thames and will look at how they have developed in relation to the Estuary and railway line. Twenty artists will each be paired with a school, and the first exhibition is scheduled to be shown at Chalkwell Hall in June. Phase 2 of the project will be shown in the new Southend  musuem when it is built.
 
Local artist Sally Chinea will be holding various workshops with 45 students from Chase High School. The participating students range in age from year 7 to year 13. 

Work is underway, and they will be focussing on Southend seafront, and some the technological developments during the Victorian era. Until the advent of the railways Southend had been viewed as a rural community. Rail travel allowed day trippers to escape the city and spend the day at seaside resorts like Southend.

Students will be invited to explore the theme of "A Day at the Seaside", and incorporate the Victorians love of collecting. Part of the project will create a "cabinet of curiosities"

These wierd and wonderful objects will be housed in a replica of a Victorian Bathing machine. It  will include an interactive space for viewers.

Work is underway with a scale model of what Sally and the students will be building.

Bathing machines would have been a common site along our coast during the Victorian era. No lady would have considered bathing without it's protection. These were rooms on wheels, which  provided a secluded private space in which a lady would peel away the layers of her petticoats, and remove her corset, changing into a suitable bathing costume. These beach houses would be pulled into the sea by horses where upon the lady could discreetly enter the sea while retaining her modesty. Once bathing was complete the carriage would be returned to the shore. 

Gathering books from the Victorian era which will be featured in the show.