Art DIY

A forty-three foot long sculpture of the Jaguar car mascot, “the leaper” has completed its first public outing at the Liverpool Walker Art Gallery in a show called Art DIY

The 43 foot-long sculpture of Jaguar’s mascot, the Leaper, stands proud outside Liverpool’s Walker art gallery. Image produced with kind permission of five. © five

The exhibition, was staged to celebrate the achievements of over 200 people who participated in the Art DIY project; a joint initiative between the WEA and Fivearts cities. Hundreds of hours of free workshops and courses were provided, to encourage people from the communities and workplaces of Merseyside to explore their artistic and creative abilities.

Fivearts Cities is a partnership between Five (the television channel), and the Arts Council England, designed to bring the arts to a new audience, and to encourage people to enjoy the arts around them. The current host city is Liverpool, with Newcastle Gateshead set to take over in 2005. Jane Lighting, CEO of Five explains, “A crucial aspect of Fivearts Cities has been and continues to be working with the cities involved to increase access to arts events and to help people unlock their own creativity”.

In association with Fivearts cities, the WEA has provided a series of inspiring courses. Art DIY encompassed 15 projects over a three month period, provided in partnership with a range of community organisations. Practical classes were held, which involved people in communities across Merseyside, in the creation of a range of artwork; from community sculpture and community mural painting, to the five-ton installation of ‘the leaper.’

The groups involved in the project, have been as diverse as the types of art created. The parents and children at Dovecot SureStart constructed puppets, a Somali women’s group worked on glass painting using traditional Arabic designs and participants in a domestic violence initiative called the Chrysalis project, created a book exploring their individual journeys from darkness to light. The 13 metre high, 43 foot long sculpture of the leaper, the Jaguar’s world famous mascot, was produced by two shifts of workers at the Halewood Jaguar plant as part of a workplace based course with artist and WEA tutor, Julian Gillespie. It is constructed from the pressed steel panels which are used to make Jaguar cars.

The city of Liverpool provides inspiration for several of the pieces, whilst other exhibits draw on people’s personal experiences and feelings. Brooklea Day Centre, a group of students with learning difficulties, created a ceramic mural depicting the Liverpool skyline, whilst the Young Persons Advisory Service explored notions of happiness, and issues of self identity in their “Coming up Taller” wall hanging.

For more detailed information about the Fivearts project you can contact Fiona Cameron of the WEA or Stephen Roberts Project Manager of Fivearts cities. Contact details below:

Fiona Cameron
Workers’ Educational Association
The Cotton Exchange Building
Suite 405-409
Old Hall Street (Bixteth Street Entrance)
Liverpool
L3 9JR
0151 243 5340
fcameron@wea.org.uk

Stephen Roberts
Roberts Laurence
7 Church Street
Empingham
Rutland LE15 8PN
01780 460777
robertslaurence@mac.com