In December 2024, Art of Protest (AOP), in partnership with the Children’s Capital of Culture Engagement Team, was commissioned to deliver three land art installations across Rotherham’s parks and green spaces. Please come celebrate the installations from the new year opening to the public from the 5th of January.
The land art, installed for 14 days, is part of the launch for the year-long festival celebrating Rotherham's becoming the world's first Children’s Capital of Culture. The programme for 2025 will be based around four themes to promote a riot of creativity, Rotherham’s green spaces, and its heritage.
The first theme, ‘You’re Not from New York City, You’re from Rov’rum’ immortalised in the lyrics of the Arctic Monkeys as a putdown, stands as a challenge to our young people to reclaim the narrative of their town.
So, on 1 January 2025, the three land art commissions under this theme will mark the start of a year in which Rotherham’s young people will reclaim this narrative. Children’s Captial of Culture has already had conversations with children and young people that their local green spaces are extremely important to them, both from a social, health, and well-being perspective and as a visible reminder of the urgency of climate change.
In December 2024, Art of Protest undertook further engagement work with the children and young people of Rotherham through our spray paint workshops and consultations. Our engagement informed the briefs for our artists meaning the children and young people we have engaged have had a direct influence on the artworks being created.
We were fortunate to have met with Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary for the Roshill Park installation, Kimberworth Park Community Partnership for Kimberworth Park installation and Ashton Youth Group for Rother Valley piece. Our workshops have focused on three main areas:
This is our…
This is my…
Together we can…
WThe workshops also focused on colour and shape. Participants of the workshops were given a range of stencils and colours to create their artwork, so they could fully express themselves. Through the workshops, AOP took the most common themes including shapes, colours and narratives to create our artist design brief. The overarching designs include geometric shapes, hopeful images of nature and the Children’s Capital of Culture striking black and yellow palette. You can find out more about the Children’s Capital of Culture on their website. www.childrenscapitalofculture .co.uk
Jeff Clark (creative lead) said he was excited to be part of the journey again following AOP’s involvement in the skate and art festival which Jeff and his team created Uplift and helped engage with the young people of the area through art and play.
We can now see the desire to dream big and hopefully, the impact of the new pieces of art demonstrates that. The future belongs to the young and we have a responsibility to leave it in a better place than we found it.
The AOP team has worked through the seasonal period to help bring the aspirations of the young people of Rotherham to life and we can’t wait to share that with you.
Each site has its own individual flavour but will have the thread of colour and vibe consistently throughout the works.
Jeff said 'The team worked so hard to bring this to life through the most difficult weather. It is normal for us to work to tight deadlines, but this once was over the seasonal period and we had gale-forcewinds and blizzards to contend with, which we managed to overcome. I am pleased to see this amazing install up and give the kick off the the Childrens Capital of Culture the launch it deserves.
Please see included the picture and videos of the engagement and the making of, as well as the finished works.
If you want to know more about how we do this or why and for who, then please get in touch with us via our contact page.
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