Leicester school children have taken over an office studio at
Phoenix Square in the city's cultural quarter, as Blueprint - the
developer behind the landmark building - pledges its support for
this year's Spark Children's Arts Festival.
A pop-up gallery, known as The Portrait Palace, has been created
at Phoenix Square. Part of the Spark Children's Arts Festival, the
gallery is open for schools to pre-book sessions between Wednesday
8 and Friday 10 June between 10am - 1pm. It will then be open to
the public to drop in on Thursday 9 June 3.30pm - 5.30pm, and
Saturday 11 June and Sunday 12th June between 11am - 4pm.
The project, which is supported by The Mighty Creatives, has
been designed to investigate how best to present visual art to
children. The artwork for The Portrait Palace has been provided by
children from primary schools Spinney Hill and Sandfield Close,
together with pupils from Braunstone Frith Junior School.
Workshops began in January, with local artist Helen Gyngell
looking at portraiture and how best to exhibit the children's own
work. As a result, the children have created a body of 2D and 3D
work using a range of materials and have decided how best to
present it in the space provided at the Phoenix Square office
studio.
John Long from Blueprint, said: "As a developer with strong
links to Leicester's cultural quarter, Blueprint is very proud to
lend its support to the Spark Children's Arts Festival. A pop-up
children's art gallery is an imaginative and engaging 'meanwhile'
use for an office studio, and we hope members of the public will
make the most of the opportunity to visit Phoenix Square this week
to take a look at The Portrait Palace."
The Spark Children's Arts Festival runs until Sunday 12 June.
With a programme packed with outstanding arts events, families can
enjoy theatre, puppetry, dance, storytelling, music and visual arts
events and workshops for children aged between 0-13 - with many
free activities.
The Portrait Palace is located at Phoenix Square - a unique
cultural building which combines contemporary living space, with
independent cinema, a state of the art gallery, cafe bar,
workspaces and office studios to house Leicester's growing number
of creative businesses. Phoenix Square is the creation of a
partnership project between Blueprint and Leicester City Council in
collaboration with Phoenix and De Montfort University and is an
example of 21st century sustainable building design, coupled with
leading-edge architectural quality.
An exclusive selection of Grade A, self-contained duplex offices
are currently available on flexible lease terms at Phoenix Square,
ranging in size from 950 sq ft to 1,660 sq ft q ft. For more
information please call Sturgis Snow and Astill on 0116 255 5999.