I am very excited and honoured to be part of this brilliant Public Art trail – Bee in the city that is taking place across Manchester during the summer of 2018 by painting a bee for Limelight Old Trafford.
The Trail went live on July 23rd and runs through til 23rd September.
The Bee I have created for Limelight is named ‘Bee Together’, it will be displayed outside Limelight as part of the #BeeInTheCity public art trail around Manchester, which features over 100 giant bees designed by different artists and iconic people to celebrate Manchester’s uniqueness.
I created the design for the Limelight bee which uses vibrant colours and eye-catching shapes reflecting both Limelight and the Old Trafford area.
Almost 250 local people ranging from 10 weeks to 80 years old added a unique touch by putting their fingerprint onto the giant bee sculpture during our ommunity workshops, creating a sense of pride and ownership in the community. It was my aim to include as many members of the community as possible. By turning the fingerprints into little bees it can remind us that we’re all the same yet unique and showcase the diversity of the wonderful Old Trafford community.
The rest of the design was inspired by the Limelight branding, such as the vibrant green and yellow colours and abstract triangular shapes. My intention was to use the bee sculpture as a 3D canvas to paint on but this was a lot harder than I thought due to the crazy shapes of the legs!
We welcomed the Bee at a “Bee Welcoming” party at Limelight on Monday 23rd July. Where there were cakes, games, bee crafts, balloons, music and lots of people from Old Trafford. A fantastic celebration.