TOP ARTISTS OF TOMORROW DISCOVERED TODAY IN NATIONAL ELEPHANT PARADE

intu is bringing the Elephant Parade to the north east of England - its first visit to the region - and it will be Britain’s artistic talent of tomorrow that is set to steal the limelight.

Elephant Parade is the world’s largest public art exhibition of decorated elephant statues that seeks to attract public awareness and support for Asian elephant conservation. In recent months thousands of school children from around the UK have submitted design ideas on a conservation theme, for the chance to win a commission in the Elephant Parade national tour – the first time children’s designs have stood shoulder to shoulder with the designs of top artists and celebrities for an Elephant Parade.

Twenty school children from as young as eight years old have already secured a commission to translate their design idea onto a half sized Elephant Parade statue for its first-ever national tour – a 375-day public art expo that is visiting 14 towns and cities. The tour is presented by intu, owner and manager of many of the UK’s best shopping centres.

Elephant Parade makes its debut at Gateshead on Monday 16^th September for a four-week stay at intu Metrocentre. More than 500 design ideas have been submitted from Gateshead schools, with six entries gaining commissions to create elephants that will join the national tour. The six elephants chosen for the Gateshead leg of the tour include Our North East Hero, an elephant inspired by the many landmarks around the Gateshead area and Unik (Unique), an elephant designed by the Tim Lamb Children’s Centre which incorporates a mixture of disabilities into the design. Designs from school children in Surrey, Watford and Manchester have already featured.

Over the course of the tour, more than 70 schools will create elephants that will stand alongside creations by top professional artists and celebrities – including the likes of Claudia Schiffer, BBC’s Alex Jones, Mercy Delta and Rylan Clark.

Trevor Pereira, Commercial Director at tour sponsor intu commented: “Unlike many of the public art expos that have emerged in recent years, this Elephant Parade will feature designs of UK school children, giving a huge platform for tomorrow’s home-grown artistic talent, whilst also raising awareness of the importance of elephant conservation in the classroom. Across the UK we have been blown away by the sheer imagination, confidence and surprise of many of the designs and in many cases the children’s designs have also acted as an inspiration for the adult artists. A national tour with local colour, we are delighted to present the national art expo across our UK shopping centres and make a real difference to the communities in which we operate.”

Young inspiring the old:

Tour artist comments on the school tour designs

Keith Siddle, professional artist from Kent

(creator of ‘Pira-phant’ elephant)

“I was thrilled to be invited to judge the elephant design ideas from students at Copthorne Preparatory School, one of the first school’s to be involved in the tour’s national schools programme. When I walked into their art room, I was blown away. There were more than 250 wonderful designs and I instantly fell in love with a simple sketch of a pirate elephant in the corner. Designed by a young boy called Yonis, the design was so cute and whilst a raw concept I could see a lot potential in it. I really did see the cheekiness of it and an Elephant Parade like this really does need some cheekiness in it. Yonis’ design was not originally selected so a fought for it, and the result was the two of us collaborating on a design that has been one of the most popular on the tour so far.”

Sheara Abrahams, West End / film costume designer

(creator of ‘Razzle Dazzle)

Another artist involved with the schools programme is Sheara Abrahams, designer of Razzle Dazzle who helped judge the children’s designs for the Watford schools judging day.  A costume designer for major films such as Cinderella and Les Mis, Sheara commented: “It’s so important to spread the word of conservation among the young and to get youth involved in projects like this is great. I was really blown away by the designs I saw and it was really hard to pick the winners. I found it incredible to see how different people’s minds work - from an 11 year-old boy, who transformed his elephant into a soldier, to a 14 year-old who created a solar system. There were also some wonderful Asian-inspired patterns. Overall, there was such an incredible variety. The children’s ideas were so creative and an inspiration to older artists.”

Christine Wilcox-Baker, Cheshire artist

(Creator of ‘Stop The Traffic’)

“I think it’s a really great idea to get school children interested in conservation and nature from a young age. I have seen some of the school designs and I think many of their designs are among the best in the tour. There are fewer celebrities involved in this Elephant Parade, in a year when it is the school children that are the heroes of this tour.”

Anna Masters, London artist

(creator of ‘Sunday Best’)

"This parade has not only provided an opportunity for the public to engage with the topic of the conservation of elephants but has also allowed for young people to integrate with art who wouldn’t necessarily want to walk into an art gallery. It’s so nice to see the kids getting involved. Unlike other public art expos where they climb all over the elephants, for this parade they are creating them.” 

For more information, high resolution images, artist profiles or to arrange interviews with Elephant Parade or intu contact the UK tour press office:

Guy Bellamy: 07766 775216               guy@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Katherine Skinner:07592 933638        katherine@elephantcommunications.co.uk

Find out more about the tour, venues, artists and how to get involved: www.intuelephantparade.com

For more media materials and to register for future announcements, follow the Elephant Parade newsroom: http://www.mynewsdesk.com/uk/pressroom/elephant-parade

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