Vibrant banners brighten up Stoke town
Colourful banners showcasing the natural beauty of Stoke Town have been installed following a community collaboration.
‘Look Up Stoke’ is a project by Letting in the Light – a Stoke based participatory arts company who have been specialising in arts and health art projects since 1997.
This latest project – which received funding from the Stoke High Street Accelerator pilot earlier this year – has seen local organisations such as women’s support group Wonder Women and No. 72 Advisory Group at B-Arts come together to design banners to represent green spaces in Stoke town.
The two-meter-long lamppost
(Images courtesy of Letting in the Light)
Sarah Bonam, Project and Programme Director at Letting in the Light, said: ‘Look Up Stoke’ has been a lovely project and one which has brought so many people together.
“We wanted to create really vibrant banners which represent different elements of nature in Stoke and local green spaces and everyone has done brilliantly.
“During the workshops we followed a process we have been using since 1997, which involved taking photographs which were then drawn round on acetate and projected onto large paper panels before adding a wax barrier, dye painting and ironing off the wax. It’s a process that’s really accessible and that people enjoy using.”
The banners – which were printed by local firm QPS Print – have been installed on lampposts around the town and will remain in place for around 12 months.
Sarah adds: “It’s great to see the final banners in place throughout the town and we have already had people commenting about them and saying how nice they look. The fox is proving to be very popular.
“When creating the banners we initially made them on paper. These panels have now been installed in windows at the Spode Museum, Stoke Market and the Art Stop on Hartshill Road.”
“The banners, along with the other projects that have taken place, contribute to creating a more vibrant and welcoming place to visit which hopefully means people will stay in Stoke longer and support the local businesses when they visit.
“We have received comments from people in Stoke who have recognised the banner designs from seeing them in the windows at Spode – which is great – and how they really brighten up the town.”
Letting in the Light received funding for Look Up Stoke from the Stoke HSA, which is part of the £500,000 Greenspace Funding awarded to Stoke-on-Trent City Council to enable Accelerator partnerships to deliver projects to improve green spaces and parklets around Stoke Town Centres high street.
This was awarded by MHCLG and to date 14 projects have been approved through the Greenspace funding in Stoke Town.
For more information about Letting in the Light please visit their Facebook Page @Lettinginthelight
