MORE than 100 parents, artists, staff and excited students attended the Opening View of the ‘Life on the Edge’ exhibition.

The exhibition at The Ariel centre Totnes runs until late October and showcases the very best work produced by KEVICC students from across all year groups.

The aim of the project and work is to raise awareness about our endangered invertebrates and to ask pertinent questions about the importance of protecting bio-diversity in South Devon.

After a term’s worth of developmental studies and sketchbook work, all of the year 7 students and year 12 BTEC pupils created individual pieces for the show.

The diversity and quality of these thought-provoking pieces is the ‘backbone’ of our exhibition and message. There were also workshops with various artists for selected students and the work they produced is also on display.

This includes inventive metal work sculptures with Mark Gregory, delicate bee puppet carvings with Sarah Vigars, a large and bright wildflower meadow mural with Eloisa Henderson-Figuero, complex cardboard oil beetles with James Lak and a stunning felt made installation with Amanda Critchlow.

Tim Wightman Head of Art at KEVICC said: “It has been an absolute privilege to be involved in encouraging the next generation to make works that really can change the world around them! Thanks to all at AONB but particularly Nicky Bailey for their support and passion which has motivated us all to be involved.”

Nicky Bailey, Community Projects Officer S Devon AONB, said: “The exhibition was the culmination of several workshops with students. It was amazing to see the exceptional standard of work produced refecting the ethos of the project, and raising awareness of the endangered invertebrates.”

Life on the Edge (LotE) is a multi-partner project that aims to restore viable populations of some of the UK’s rarest invertebrates and plants living along the South Devon coast between Berry Head and Wembury, including the last known colony of the Six-banded Nomad Bee.

This bee faces imminent extinction unless action is taken. The project will also enable the recovery of over 30 other threatened invertebrates (including the Long-horned Bee, Short-necked Oil Beetle, and Moon Spider) and 30 rare or declining plant species, including Autumn Squill, Slender-fruited Bird’s-foot Trefoil and Goldilocks Aster.