Bishop Auckland is in the midst of an invasion. However, there is no need for alarm, as the town is being taken over by art. The Art Land project aims to ‘take over’ Bishop Auckland and to create an interactive, ‘live’ art gallery from the 10th-26th April. The idea is the brainchild of two North East artists, Vicky Holbrough and James Lowther.
According to a spokesperson for the event, the artists’ intention was to create a programme that would, “offer the people of Bishop Auckland something new, fresh and ambitious and, at the same time, be a challenging platform for regional artists to showcase their talents”.
Vicky Holbrough said, “Art Land is all about making people’s everyday experience a little bit more interesting and getting residents, professionals and visitors to appreciate the wonderful qualities of Bishop Auckland.”
The event hopes to provoke interest about art through encouraging people to “step out of the comfort zone of their daily routine and soak up their own little piece of culture”. The ‘live gallery’ is spread about the town centre, and the organisers are displaying art in areas where they would not usually be installed. The intention being to bring art to the people.
Vicky adds, “Art Land aims to make art more accessible to people by giving them the opportunity to engage with a variety of different styles that will hopefully blossom into a new or increased enjoyment for the arts.” Linda Goldie, Town Clerk of Bishop Auckland Town Council, said, “The Town council decided to sponsor Art Land because of its originality and the fact it’s different from the usual traditional art exhibitions. “It is hoped that the event, in its unique format, will attract many people, both existing art lovers and newcomers to this type of creative event.”
The project has also been received well by the businesses in the town, with Shelley Walker, Land Lady of the Tut n Shive public house, saying, “I think people will really enjoy Art Land and some might even find it amusing.
“The way I see it is that if our regulars won’t go to the arts, then we’ll bring the arts to them.”
Art Land representatives state that the programme has been received enthusiastically by the business community. For more information, visit the official website at www.artlandne.com.
Bishop Auckland's local community newspaper.
I think I spotted one of these a few weeks ago.
Here’s a photo – seen in Auckland Castle.