Community art organisation, BloomInArt, was chosen from dozens of creative groups to produce a stunning art installation for this year’s Hartlepool Waterfront Festival.
Rachel Laycock and Emma Wheetman co-directors of the organisation, worked to create a sculptural ‘glass like’ Perspex beach hut for the festival which was then lit from within and decorated with over 300 postcards designed by people of all ages from across Hartlepool.
Rachel said: “The postcards were an invitation for people to respond personally to the chosen theme ‘oh I do like to be’, allowing individual interpretation through any creative medium they wished.
“We had an incredible response of over 4000 postcards, ranging from poetry, drawings, and even 3D illustrations, so it was really difficult to narrow it down to the 300.
“The selected designs were digitised and printed onto vinyl and covered the outer surface of the final sculpture. A selection of the other postcards will then go on display at numerous events throughout the year.”
Now in its second year, Hartlepool Waterfront Festival was based at the Hartlepool Waterfront site within the town’s Marina over the weekend and was themed ‘Oh I Do Like to Be’ in honour of the great British seaside.
Councillor Kevin Cranney, Chair of Hartlepool Borough Council’s Regeneration Services Committee, said: “As a Borough, one of our best features in Hartlepool is our proximity to the sea and we can’t wait to celebrate it through art.
“BloomInArt invited responses to our festival’s theme ‘Oh, I Do Like To Be’ on postcards by people across Hartlepool. Some of the postcards have been used to create a wonderful 3D piece of sculpture which will be displayed at the Festival.
“This created a perfect representation of our theme from school children, community groups and the people of the town.”
After the festival, BloomInArt’s installation, including a selection of postcards that weren’t included in the final piece, will go on display at Hartlepool Museum and Hartlepool Gallery from August until September.
Emma explained “We want to take the installation across the Tees Valley to other festivals, gaining greater community input to make a series of huts. We will have a presence at the Festival of Thrift in September and the beach hut will feature at Hartlepool Wintertide Festival in November.”
BloomInArt has been delivering creative arts projects in communities throughout the region for four years. The organisation’s projects seek to engage and inspire people to use their imaginations, learn new skills and develop a passion for the arts.
For more information about BloomInArt visit, https://www.facebook.com/bloominart or www.bloominart.co.uk