Public Art Exhibition in the wilderness
Arts organisation, Urban Wilderness CIC, is to launch a public art exhibition to show disused spaces in a new light across Stoke-on-Trent.
The Happenings – which will launch on 23 September – will be live for five weeks, across five locations in the city.
With a focus on bringing people together, finding a sense of community, and exploring public art in different ways, the exhibition will be open to the public.
Five artists have been selected from a range of disciplines and practices to bring their work to life in unloved and unseen spaces to highlight heritage and hope for the future.
Laurel Gallagher, co-director of Urban Wilderness, said: “The Happenings explores the meaning of public art, and public art in a pandemic, with the hope of getting people to stop, to look and to listen, at what they have around them and to see green spaces through a fresh set of eyes with all the possibility and potential that goes with it.
“Over the past 18 months green spaces and common spaces have formed an important role in our lives with many taking the time to explore spaces on their doorstep that they would not have visited before. The Happenings is about happening upon something new, something exciting, and exploring the public art that has been created”.
The Happenings will run until 31 October 2021. As well as all spaces being open to the public – a planned programme of talks and workshops will run alongside the exhibition – which can also be viewed online.
Urban Wilderness is supported by funding from Arts Council England and The National Lottery Community Fund, founded by Laurel Gallagher, Isla Telford and Jenny Harper in 2018. With a collaborative approach to sharing knowledge and bringing public art to a new audience, this is the latest project curated by the team.
For more information visit www.thehappenings.org