Brighton cultural organisations, artists and creatives from the ABCD Cultural Recovery Plan have teamed up with city centre businesses within Brilliant Brighton Business Improvement District, to showcase Brighton’s vibrant art scene with a colourful art trail with work by local artists encompassing walls, bus stops, lampposts and street furniture throughout Brilliant Brighton, as well as exciting cultural events each third Thursday of the month.
The Enliven Brighton Art Trail, curated by Brighton local, Richard Wolfströme – an award-winning identity and wayfaring designer – features colourful artwork from a varied range of talented professional artists.
Murals from Dave Pop and Eelus will bring joy to a small number of businesses’ walls, while Josef Cabey and Gil Mualem-Doron’s bright graphics will add colour to bus stops, Kate Forrester’s delicate detailed sea-inspired illustrations will brighten up planters, Liberty Cheverall’s work aims to spread positivity on litter bins, and artists from inclusive, not-for-profit organisation Rocket Artists Studio continue to further add vibrance, with artwork wrapped around lampposts in Preston Street and North Laine.
David Sheppeard, Co-Chair of the ABCD Cultural Recovery Plan’s Enliven strand, and Executive Director of Marlborough Productions says: “Brighton’s cultural sector is at its best when it’s bold and collaborative, these values have driven the ABCD plan for cultural recovery. Third Thursdays and the Enliven Brighton Art Trail are born from these values representing a new platform for the city’s artists, organisations, businesses and audiences to come together to make unforgettable experiences happen. We’re hugely grateful to Brilliant Brighton for going on this journey with us and for videoclub’s and Richard Wolfströme’s dynamic creative visions. We hope to see you all enjoying Third Thursdays and the Enliven Brighton Art Trail.”
The trail (in place for six months) launches on 20th January, to coincide with Third Thursdays – another exciting cultural event, as part of the partnership project between Brilliant Brighton (the city centre’s Business Improvement District, formed of 517 retail, leisure and hospitality businesses) and the ABCD Cultural Recovery Plan (a collaborative plan created by over 100 creatives in the city, which has secured £350,000 of funding for the cultural sector in the city from partners including Brighton & Hove City Council, Arts Council England and the Pebble Trust). The partnership project’s aim is to connect residents, visitors and businesses with the city’s thriving cultural sector.
A sneaky peek of Brighton artist Dave Pop’s mural to be unveiled at Boots, North Street
Third Thursdays are a monthly opportunity to see, experience and take part in art, music and culture, which aims to make Brighton city centre the place to be, with events, performances, film projections and new artwork commissions, during the dark evenings, and curated by videoclub.
The event on Thursday 20th January will see musicians performing, films by international artists showing in businesses’ windows (thanks to the ‘whispering window’ technology of event sponsor Feonic), a film trail and a digital stag ‘leaping’ through the streets thanks to Thomas Buckley’s mobile projector, all taking place throughout East Street, North Laine and The Lanes between 4:30 – 6:30pm.
Shelley Welti, Marketing and Events Manager for Brilliant Brighton says: “We’re really looking forward to people exploring art on the streets of Brilliant Brighton with Third Thursdays and also the new Enliven Brighton Art Trail, we hope residents and visitors alike will enjoy all the city centre has to offer during the winter months!”
Martin Osborne, joint chair of Brighton & Hove City Council’s tourism, economy, communities and culture committee said: “Arts and culture are an integral part of the city’s make-up and we’re so lucky to have such a vibrant and varied offer of events year-round.
“These new monthly events will add lightness and a new dimension to the city centre for us to enjoy throughout the darker winter months.”
View the Enliven Brighton Art Trail and join the Third Thursdays event on 20th January.
Main image is of Third Thursdays pilot event in December by Bip Mistry
