The Cheltenham Paint Festival is taking place over the weekend of Saturday 7th and Sunday 8th September and this year Cheltenham Borough Homes (CBH) managed properties will be featuring.
Back for its third year and bigger than ever, the festival brings some of the finest street artists from around the world to Cheltenham to take part – transforming buildings with their creative visuals and bringing a splash of colour to the town. One hundred artists will be taking to the streets and transforming 25 different locations with their artistic flair over the week, which brings thousands of tourists to the town.
This year the festival has partnered with Cheltenham Literature Festival, which celebrates its 70th anniversary having started in 1949. To celebrate the momentous occasion, the street artists have been working on a theme of ‘Hurrah for Books’ – the same name of the closing event at the first ever Literature Festival.
Festival Director Andy ‘Dice’ Davies approached CBH last Autumn with a vision for bringing the paint festival to a new audience, with a lot of last year’s work taking place in the town centre.
Following discussions with CBH, Cheltenham Borough Council and tenants, the proposals to paint gable ends of some of the properties along Princess Elizabeth Way and create an exciting avenue of art called The ARTery were approved. The first installation will be painted on Arundel House on Princess Elizabeth Way, with artist Dan Kitchener aka DANK painting the north end of the wall, and INKIE
The project will begin 2nd September and run until the weekend, where visitors from all over the country will be in Cheltenham to see the incredible art and see the artists in action.
Speaking before the event, Paul Stephenson, chief executive at Cheltenham Borough Homes, said: “We were really impressed with the standard of the artwork around Cheltenham last year and a lot of our tenants were too. We had some people asking us why the art wasn’t making its way over to the West of Cheltenham, so we looked at how we could help bring art into the area.
“We’re really pleased we’ve been able to offer these gable ends to Andy and the team – which will see them transformed into works of art for the community and visitors to enjoy. It’s a vibrant part of Cheltenham and we think it’s only right that an event like this comes to the whole town.”
On top of world class street art, the festival brings with it a host of workshops for children and adults, as well as film screenings and a pop-up exhibition. Children’s spray paint workshops are taking place at University of Gloucestershire Hardwick Campus on St. Pauls Road. The class costs £6 and tickets are available through the paint festival website.
Andy ‘Dice’ Davies, said: “Some of these artists are world renowned, so it’s a really massive coup for us to get them here in Cheltenham. You only have to look at how popular the street art scene is in places like Bristol and London to see how much it is appreciated and regarded as art in its own right.
“We’ve got two brilliant artists in Inkie and Dan Kitchener coming to do the work on Princess Elizabeth Way. Their pieces are truly breath taking and I am sure the residents will absolutely love their work.”
Cllr Flo Clucas, cabinet member for healthy lifestyles at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: “My thanks goes to Cllr Suzanne Williams who was instrumental in bringing the art to West Cheltenham and I’m sure this festival be a stunning visual celebration in our town.
“I'm really excited to see what the artists will create using the literature theme. Art can have a transformative effect on communities and raise aspirations, I know that it will really feed people's imaginations and get them thinking about why Cheltenham and its literature festival are so special."
The festival is free of charge and maps will be available from locations throughout Cheltenham ahead of the weekend and from volunteers around town during.
CBH will be posting pictures of the work in progress throughout the week leading up to the festival, which will be shared through the @CheltBoroHomes Facebook and Twitter pages.
For more information on the event, visit: www.cheltenhampaintfestival.co.uk or follow them on Instagram at @cheltenhampaintfestival for updates.
Contact the press office on communications@cheltenham.gov.uk | 0800 408 0000