LOVE Local EGGstravaganza Art Trail launches with family friendly art day on the High Street

On April 9, from 11am – 3pm, a range of free family art activities will take over the High Street in Littlehampton. Celebrating the work of local and regional artists, and inviting the whole family to get involved, this pop-up arts event will feature live music and plenty of chances to get creative up and down the High Street.

Local favourites Sussex Steel will showcase the work of their amazing young people and community bands, with their steel pan covers bringing a party atmosphere, whilst award-winning artists from the charity UCanSpray will invite young and old to try their hand at the egg-citing art of spray art (using non-toxic sprays) to create giant Easter- themed murals for the town.

Down on the pavement the creativity continues with the fabulous community team of artists – LOCA (Littlehampton’s Organisation of Community Arts) – turning the fabric of the High Street into colourful chalk art and inviting everyone to get involved.

At 12pm, speeches by local councillors will officially open the two-week EGGstravaganza Art Trail, a partnership between youth arts charity Artswork, Arun District Council and Littlehampton Town Council which has commissioned a group of 10 brilliant artists, all based in Sussex, including 6 from Littlehampton, to create a fabulous trail of artistic giant eggs placed in businesses around the town centre and in Wick also, thanks to support from the Wick Action Group. 8 eggs have been made in creative workshops with local schools in a range of imaginative styles and materials, from pom-poms to origami and 4 large fibreglass eggs have been painted and finished by local artists, forming one of the highlights of the trail.

Families following the trail will get the chance to engage with a range of local businesses spread all around the town centre. By collecting the secret code held by each egg and solving the puzzle, they can enter a free prize draw with some egg-citing prizes from local businesses!

Cllr Jacky Pendleton, Deputy Leader of Arun District Council and Chair of the Housing and Wellbeing Committee, said:

“A huge amount of work has gone into organising this event which serves as a fantastic way to get the community together as a whole to get creative. I’m looking forward to seeing the high street awash with colour and activity and will definitely be getting involved!”

Speaking about the project, Councillor Dr James Walsh KStJ, Chair of the Town Council’s Policy and Finance Committee, said:

“We are very fortunate to have an incredibly talented community of artists in our area who are keen to engage in creative community projects like this one. I cannot wait to see the results of this collaboration of great artists and talented young people. I know it will be special and well worth visiting our ever-more vibrant Town.”

Programme Manager, Beccy East from Artswork explains:

‘LOVE Local is all about celebrating how creativity and families can bring our town centre to life and we are confident families from across the town and further afield will find loads to inspire and entertain them in Littlehampton this Easter. The creativity of children and schools is right at the heart of this programme, and we are delighted that so many schools in the town have embraced the opportunity to show what brilliant art their children can create and how it can work to revitalise their community.’

The project is part of Arun Inspires, a 3-year programme of cultural investment transforming the life chances of children and young people across the District of Arun, led by Artswork. Delivered in partnership with Arun District Council, it seeks to invest in new high-quality cultural opportunities for Arun’s children and young people.

The commissioned artists are:

Staci Mendoza Quin (LOCA)

Felicity Jay (Creative Heart)

Ben Cavanagh

Esther Heylen & Dorota Lawrie (Pallant House)

Juliet Stallard (Saltwater Creations)

Isobel Smith (Fine Art Rural Mission & Saatchi Gallery)

Lucy Seeds

Maureen Wells (Pallant House)

Tricia Johnson (West Dean College, Worthing Museum & Art Gallery)

Shirley Bloomfield-Davies

Schools creating eggs through the project are:

The Littlehampton Academy

Cornfield School

Lyminster Primary

Summerlea Community Primary

White Meadows Primary Academy

St Catherine’s Catholic Primary

St Mary’s C of E Primary

River Beach Primary

For further information contact: Beccy East, Programme Manager, rebeccaeast@artswork.org.uk

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Arun Arun Inspires Communities Littlehampton