Tom Karen Creations

In Summer 2022, the Letchworth Garden City Heritage Foundation (LGCHF) displayed ‘Tom Karen: Creations’ at the Museum at One Garden City. This wonderful exhibition celebrated the life and work of designer Tom Karen. Tom was known for his iconic vehicle designs including the Bond Bug, Reliant Scimitar GTE and the Raleigh Chopper bicycle, as well as his toys, like Marble Run and Ogle Mogles.

Honouring Tom’s legacy, the Cultural Learning team at the Foundation partnered with Pixmore Junior School to co-create cross-curricular teaching resources inspired by his work. Alex Evans, Head Teacher at Pixmore, volunteered to research and develop the resources which were the basis

of the project, supported by Mollie Mclellan, Cultural Learning Officer for the Foundation. Delivering the project over the Autumn Term 2022 and Spring Term 2023, the team continued to learn from the students’ experience how the project could evolve. Students visited the Museum and used the facilities at the Broadway Gallery to begin designing their own vehicles. Once complete, the students works were then installed within the existing ‘Tom Karen:

Creations’ exhibition. To enable other schools to get involved, the team have collated resources including an interactive virtual scan of the ‘Tom Karen: Creations’ exhibition, educational videos for KS1, KS2 and KS3, lesson plans and worksheets. The Foundation hope to continue co-devising work like this with Letchworth Garden City schools to support the delivery of arts and cultural activity.