​Postcard street art to raise money for mayor’s charities

Bury Art Museum is presenting a charity postcard exhibition and silent auction at Kwoff Window Gallery on Silver Street, Bury.

Some 99 artworks are on display in a variety of media - ink, pencil, watercolour, felt tip, collage, crayon, biro and paint – and can be viewed by passers-by until 5 December.

People are invited to submit bids for the pieces, with all proceeds going towards the Mayor of Bury’s charity appeal, of which Bury Samaritans is the main beneficiary.

Submitted by local artists and drawing enthusiasts, the postcards were initially intended for a pop-up exhibition and charity auction in the gallery. However, the recent closure of the art museum led to team to join forces with local business Kwoff who offered use of the space next door to their premises to create the window gallery.

The postcard-sized artworks were created as part of the The Big Draw Festival – a nationwide drawing festival – and events programme on Sketchbook STILL Social, Bury Art Museum’s digital hub on Facebook which aims to continue lively and informal drawing classes to help keep creativity engaged.

The museum has also been working on the Spirit of a Place project with photographer Andy Marshall, investigating the rich history of Silver Street through photography, drawing and mapmaking.

Councillor Jane Black, cabinet member for the cultural economy, said: “This is a great idea to bring art to the public, raise money for charity and also support local and independent businesses around the Silver Street area.”

How to bid

Bidding slips can be collected from Kwoff wine shop and posted through the letterbox to the left of the window gallery.

Bids can also be made via email. Send an email headed ‘Post Art Street Show’ stating the number of the postcard along with your bid plus your name, email address and phone number to: artgallery@bury.gov.uk

Bids start at £5. To see images of all the artwork in this album on the museum’s drawing-related Facebook page, Sketchbook STILL Social, go to: https://www.facebook.com/SketchbookSTILLSocial/posts/186352143027822

The exhibition runs until Saturday 5 December. Successful bidders will then be contacted and payments over the phone will be arranged. Artwork will be posted out before Christmas.

Town of Culture

Bury is delighted to be chosen as Greater Manchester’s first Town of Culture.

Due to the pandemic, many events have been moved online – but the good news is that Bury will retain its status for next year!

For all the events and more details, go to https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15386

ENDS

Press release issued: 13 November 2020.

Note to editors:

More about Sketchbook STILL Social

Informal, friendly online drawing community that firmly believes that #DrawingIsForEverybody.

Sketchbook STILL Social is our digital hub on Facebook to continue the art museum’s lively, informal drawing classes to help keep creativity engaged.

Each month, both Sketchbook STILL Social and the #BAMOnline programme run with the same theme, with suggested activities, collection inspiration, recommendations of people doing great things and pieces to read.

Sketchbook STILL Social offers regular prompts to get followers thinking, with short, fun activities and ideas to fill up time, sketchbooks and some headspace.

Like and join the friendly Facebook group @SketchbookSTILLSocial here for weekly prompt words and information about how to get involved.