Art Attack craft activities are to make a return splat in Tamworth

Tamworth town centre will be awash with colour and creativity on Saturday, October 6, with a series of interesting and unusual arts activities for people of all ages to take part in FREE of charge.

Tamworth Arts & Events team are linking up with ‘The Big Draw Festival 2018’ to bring the world’s biggest drawing festival to the town for a second year running.

Art Attack is open to all ages and abilities, offering people the opportunity to ‘have a go’ at art with a difference. Professional artists and illustrators will be on hand to guide and assist all budding artists, allowing people to express their creativity in an exciting and original way. Activities include paint ball art, swinging on a pendulum paint pourer, art in the dark and painting with remote control cars.

Art Attack is linked to the international Big Draw Festival campaign and brings a huge variety of free arts activities to the town, to encourage people of all ages to get creative. The Tamworth event was so successful in its first year that the Arts & Events team scooped the Big Draw’s International ‘Community Participatory and Libraries Award’ for 2017 and will be looking to defend that title in 2018.

This year The Big Draw Festival’s theme is ‘Play’ and as part of the International Big Draw Festival initiative we want everyone to get playful with their creativity.

Activities will include:

Urban Canvas

Building on the popular success of last year’s urban canvas, this traditional street art activity is for anyone who wants to pick up a stick of chalk, grab a comfy cushion and get stuck in to drawing on the pavement, underneath the historic Town hall.   

Thinking about the theme - ‘Play’- participants will be encouraged to ‘free draw’ as well as considering street games such as Hopscotch and Noughts and Crosses.

Art in the dark

Step inside the dark and help brighten up the space with Ultra Violet painting. Grab a brush and get painting with specially designed UV reactive paint on paper, brought to life under black lights. Contribute to the collaborative gallery exhibition - a fantastic ultraviolet, fluorescent wonderland.

Tape That

Join in the fun using colourful electrical tape to line the walls, ceilings and floor to create colourful shapes and a giant artwork. Step inside the drawing, walk around it and even jump between the lines.

‘Big Draw Play Store’

New for 2018 ‘Big Draw, Play Store’ is a mix of unusual creative activities based inside Ankerside. This will include: 

Spiro style - go wild on the Spirograph tables and create countless, individual and colourful spiral designs with the geometric drawing toy.

Pendulum painting - pour, twirl, swing and play your way to your own masterpiece by swinging on a pendulum paint pourer and create a gravity-fuelled floor painting.

The paint pot pit - use a converted remote controlled car to ‘paint pit-stops’ with the paint roller wheels. Test your skills by driving around a set track, creating paintings as you go!   

Bubble pop – create amazing and beautiful paintings on paper using ecofriendly, bubble blowers, made from recycled materials and coloured bubble solution.   

Paint ball - use hand held paint balls to throw at the floor and wall mounted targets. Create an explosion of multi-coloured and collaborative paintings.

Paint race - Use paint filled syringes, pick a colour and get ready to race your paint down the wall to make a rainbow cascade.

Mark Burbridge, manager at Ankerside Shopping Centre, said: “We are delighted to be involved with the council’s ‘Art Attack’ event again as part of the Tamworth Arts in Unusual Spaces project.

“The Big Draw was a huge success last year, which attracted hundreds of people to join in the festival and get creative. We are excited to be introducing the new ‘Big Draw Play Store’ to the project, which will see participants enjoy various activities inside the shopping centre.

“We look forward to seeing lots of art lovers taking part in the Ankerside activities and we can’t wait to see all the wonderful creations.”

The Big Draw (formally The Campaign for Drawing) was founded in 2000 and is an arts education charity that promotes visual literacy and the universal language of drawing as a tool for learning, expression and invention.

The world’s biggest drawing festival was brought to Tamworth for the first time last year and Tamworth Borough Council’s Arts & Events team were honoured with the ‘Community, Participatory and Libraries Award’, sponsored by The Arts Society..

Throughout the year, The Big Draw demonstrates the social, economic and health benefits that drawing can bring and provides opportunities for everyone to access them.

Cllr John Chesworth, Cabinet member for Culture and Operational Services, said: “I am delighted that Art Attack will return to Tamworth for a second year. This inspirational event offers a unique and exciting opportunity for people of all ages to take part in ‘art with a difference.’

“It will involve the local community joining together and experimenting with art and maybe trying something new and creative, while celebrating the town’s heritage.  I really hope that everyone will get involved and make this a breath-taking spectacle.”

All activities take place between 10am and 5pm. All ages are welcome, but children must be accompanied by an adult. More information on arts and events in Tamworth is available at: www.tamworthartsandevents.co.uk.