I was involved in a really cool exhibition a few weekends ago. It was great because the artwork was shown under bridges along a stretch of canal on Barton. It was devised by a local designer Dan Poyner. He came up with the idea several years ago while walking Rosie the dog, along the canal tow path. He found himself standing under one of the canal bridges, looking at the great expanse of concrete, and a little light bulb went off, and he thought, why not use these spaces to show art work?
He liked the idea that it created an ambient space to show art work, as you would get canal barges going past, cyclists, dog walkers and more. It sounded like a great idea to me, and I was really pleased to be asked to be involved.
With the weather being so lovely, I decided to show some nice sunny pieces!
A local High School- John Taylor- were asked to get involved. The top image, shows a close up of a piece created by year 6 students, in response to seeing images of the waterways.
The image above this shows a piece created by Eleanor Douglas, a year 13 student. It is a textile collage, reflecting her experiences of travelling. There was also some beautiful work by some year 12 students.
Burton based photographer, Philip Grocott, was also involved. His subjects range from portraits to landscape work. They form a great document of life in the Midlands.
It took a lot of hard work on Dan's behalf to get this project completed, I hope he can build on it in the future. It would be lovely to see art take over a bigger stretch of the canal.
