New Gardens are a Big Draw

A group of Sunderland artists will be celebrating the creation of £2m gardens in the city as part of the national Big Draw campaign next week (OCT 11).

ASSIGN (Art Sunderland Support Initiative Group Network) is running a series of art-based activities in and around the gardens throughout October.

Ten artists will take up residency in Sunniside and invite residents and visitors to view and participate in their Gardening and Drawing art project. The area is currently benefiting from a huge regeneration programme led by Sunniside Partnership. At the heart of this city quarter lie the new gardens, which were officially opened in March and offer a place in which visitors and residents can relax and enjoy.

ASSIGN will be just one of thousands of artist groups taking part in the Big Draw.
Every October, galleries, museums, science centres, heritage and environmental sites, libraries, archives, community and shopping centres, colleges, schools and art clubs host drawing activities for all abilities.

Supported by Sunniside Partnership, the Gardening and Drawing project will take place every Thursday, Friday and Saturday for three weeks beginning on October 11 from 11am to 4pm. Improvised drawing activities will take place at 52 Back Frederick Street and in Sunniside Gardens. Local businesses are also getting behind the campaign by providing exhibition space for the work.

Bill Harris, of ASSIGN, said: “It is such an exciting opportunity to be involved in the national Big Draw campaign and we are extremely grateful to Sunniside Partnership for funding this project and to Social Enterprise Sunderland for its continued support.”

“The idea came about following the recent inception of Sunniside Gardens. It has made such a positive difference to the area, giving residents and visitors a place to go and relax and enjoy in the heart of Sunniside. We wanted to create an artistic response to what we feel it has brought to this important part of the city. We hope members of the public will join us in this and come along to take part in all the activities that will be going on.”

Ben Hall, director of Sunniside Partnership, said: “Sunniside is now such a huge draw for local artists. The aim has always been to transform the area back into the thriving cultural quarter it once was and by supporting groups like ASSIGN, Sunniside Partnership is helping this vision on its way to becoming a reality.”

A preview evening will take place at the Frederick Street studios on Thursday October 18 from 6pm to 8pm.

For more information on ASSIGN and the Gardening and Drawing project, visit www.assign-art.co.uk

For more information on the Big Draw campaign visit www.campaignfordrawing.org