Swindon's first street art festival will be held this weekend, and hopes to celebrate and initiate more murals and street art within the town.
Swindon’s first street art festival, ‘Swindon Paint Fest’ will be held across the weekend of 15 – 16 October.
Its main aim is to showcase and initiate murals and street art into the town centre and beyond, as part of the town’s regeneration and bring a positive change in people’s perception of Swindon.
The event has been organised by artists Caryn Koh, Sally Taylor and Organiser Helen Salter on behalf of Artsite - an artist led self-funded charity, in partnership with Inswindon BID.
The event has already attracted over 50 local and international artists who have been keen to be involved in various live paintings and permanent murals in and around Swindon town centre, and leading into the district of Rodbourne.
Headline artists include:
- Martin Travers
- Ed Poster
- Jaksta
- Curtis Hylton
- Philth Baker
- Caryn Koh
- Mel Saggs
- Andrew Burns Colwill
- Penfold
- Teaone
- 7th Pencil
- Von Grey
- Lost Dogs
- INCA_THEMOLE
- Jenna Fox
- Tim Carroll
- Peter Cowdy
- Paulmonsters
- Sophie Long
- Hass and the Read & Weep Crew.
Due to the size of the event and murals, some artists have already started work to enable people to enjoy seeing their work in progress.
The main event attraction will be held at Wharf Green, where six featured artists will be showcasing their skills on large frames by live painting to the public over the weekend.
Various artists will be transforming the hoardings provided by Premier Inn, along with the drab walls across the main town centre, behind the MECA, Corporation Street and leading out into the streets of Rodbourne.
An official art trail map will be published on the event's social media sites, so individuals can find out where each artist is located, and get to see them at work.
The event will kick off today - Friday 14 October - at Artiste with the opening of the “More Shock of the New” duo exhibition by Paul Exton and Dayna Baxter, combining a celebratory soft launch of the paint fest between 6-9pm.
The exhibition is said to showcase the duo’s signature abstract styles in producing bold bright colours, shapes & geometry. During the weekend, the artists will also be holding a free interactive experimental drawing workshop for the public to drop into the gallery and experience.
So much more is planned for this event with workshops, a pop-up shop and an artist sharing session, hosted by Artsite, and The Swindon Hub.
Artist Ken White, best known for his large-scale murals and work with Richard Branson, will be hosting a free-entry conversation session and open discussion about how public art can play an important role in improving a town.
There will also be a group exhibition showcasing the works of some of the featured artists of the festival which will simultaneously run with a video exhibition to highlight the history and evolvement of street art in Swindon.
The Trinity Collective will have a pop-up shop, located on the ground floor with a tattoo studio and art shop selling art supplies, street art merchandise, art prints, and works.
Those interested can keep up to date on event announcements via Instagram at www.instagram.com/swindonpaintfest and Facebook at www.facebook.com/swindonpaintfest.
Inswindon BID, local businesses and public donations are funding this event. Those that would like to make a contribution towards materials, can visit the events GoFund me page. The Swindon Paint Fest team say any amount will be greatly appreciated. https://gofund.me/4cb6a81c
All event enquiries are to be sent to Caryn Koh, Sally Taylor or Helen Salter.
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