Local artists have turned a vacant shop unit at The Mall in Norwich into a public painting space this week as the creation of a ‘mammoth’ herd of baby elephants gets under way.

 

In what is likely to be the city’s largest ever public art event, Go Elephants will feature up to fifty baby elephant sculptures, each uniquely decorated by artists, forming a picturesque public art trail across Norwich from 23 June to 31 August 2008.

 

A number of the artists will be working in the painting space over the course of the next few weeks allowing the public to see their works take shape.  Norwich based artist Amy Dibben is at work in the space and commented: “It makes a nice change to be able to work in such an open way as often an artist’s work can be quite solitary. It’s great to get feedback from the public during the process”

 

The public visiting the painting space will be able to see the creativity at work with designs that see the elephants covered in local landmarks, turned into football fans and even double-decker buses!

 

Principal sponsors of the event, The Mall were pleased to welcome the artists in. Deanna Auker, Marketing Manager, explained   “There’s been a lively response already and it’s a wonderful opportunity for people to come along, meet the artists and see the elephants being created.  The event is very much about putting art in to public spaces. Bringing artists into The Mall like this opens up their work to new audiences.

 

Go Elephants is an initiative led by The Forum Trust and Wild in Art with the objective of moving art from the gallery and placing it on the streets in a fun and inclusive way. The event is a unique collaboration between the public, private and creative sectors with a number of schools and community projects taking place around the region.

 

Once complete the elephants will take to Norwich’s streets, iconic buildings and public places and will be on safari from 23 June to 31 August. When the event finishes, the bulk of the herd will be sold at a charity auction in September to raise funds for CLIC Sargent and the Born Free Foundation. 

 

To visit the Go-Elephants Public Painting Space, go to No. 88, The Mall during normal shop opening hours.

 

To find out the latest news on Go Elephants, visit www.go-elephants.co.uk