Artists Invited To Reimagine Wrexham At New Exhibition

Artists from across the region are set to gather at Oriel Wrecsam over the next month to look at the town in a different way.

The new exhibition called Reimagine Wrexham is a collaboration of more than 30 artists, photographers, film-makers, musicians and other creative people from across the county and beyond.

Unlike more traditional exhibitions Reimagine Wrexham will change on a daily basis as artists come in and add their own work to the walls, and contributions from the public will be encouraged in a range of different ways.

The event will also encompass events to engage the public, businesses and artists. The first event will be held on 14th June and will be a live drawing event with artists creating work directly onto the walls of the gallery.

New council Arts Officer, Steffan Jones-Hughes, said he is looking forward to what develops: “This exhibition will be evolving and will give creative people a real opportunity to express themselves about the town, and it’ll allow us to find out what people really think about the town and the incredible range of arts that go on here.”

The project is being led by emerging artist Michael Jones in collaboration with the team at the new initiative THIS Project.

The purpose of THIS Project is to increase the profile of all the arts and culture that is happening in the region and to rebrand Wrexham as a cultural destination.

The team have already launched a pilot magazine, entitled ‘that’, and launched a new website (www.thisproject.co.uk) with a larger magazine and smartphone application to follow shortly.

THIS Project Leader David Gray said: “The arts are so important and can be a real driver for economic success and give people pride and confidence in where they live, and Wrexham has a lot to be proud of when it comes to art and culture.

“There are so many events that happen each week, and a rich vein of world-class creative people working at the cutting edge of art, music, film and digital technology.

“Despite this there still seems to be a prevalent view that ‘nothing ever happens in Wrexham’. Well it is happening, so now we need to let people know about it, and that is what THIS is about, and Reimagine Wrexham will highlight that.”

THIS Project is being run by The Foundry in conjunction with the Arts Council of Wales, Wrexham County Borough Council, Yale College, Glyndwr University and host of other partners.

Below of are a list of events which will take place during the project:

Monday, 11th June 2012. From 11am Yale College Students begin the decoration.

Thursday, 14th June. A Live Draw with artists from across the region, from 4:30pm to 6:30pm

Wednesday, 11th July. An event featuring representatives of business, local government, organisations, educational establishments, and artists from 5pm to 7pm.