Sponsors choose Snowdog designs as part of the Snowdogs Discover Ashford Sculpture Trail
Media release
24 May 2016
On Friday 11th May, local business sponsors of the Snowdogs Discover Ashford Trail gathered for a gala night at Revelation Ashford to choose their Snowdog designs.
Snowdogs Discover Ashford, a Wild in Art event delivered by Ashford Borough Council and Pilgrims Hospices, is a large scale public art trail of 35 Snowdog sculptures which will be placed around the borough from September to November this year and are themed on the Raymond Briggs classic,The Snowman and The Snowdog™.
Each Snowdog has been individually designed by local and regional artists and sponsored by Kent-based businesses. At the end of the 10-week trail each Snowdog will be auctioned off to raise vital funds for local charity, Pilgrims Hospice.
On the evening, sponsors viewed an exhibition of 60 Snowdog choices and placed their company sticker on their favourite design. Whilst the chosen designs remain under wraps, sponsors and artists are now starting to be paired up to discuss the final design and name of their dog.
Once finalised, the chosen artists will then start applying their designs to the blank Snowdogs from the 1st June. Throughout this process, County Square Shopping Centre will be hosting an Artist Painting Kennel in one of the shop units, creating a buzzing hive of activity where shoppers can see the designs come to life.
Fran Burt, County Square Shopping Centre Manager, commented: "We are absolutely thrilled with the artists we have selected for our two Snowdogs, which will be in our centre come the autumn. We are also looking forward to welcoming local and national artists to our studio during the summer, which I am sure will create a real spectacle for our customers."
Cllr Mike Bennett, Portfolio Holder for Culture at Ashford Borough Council, said: "This is an exciting arts projectwhich we hope will engage and excite our residents and visitors. The Snowdog Sculptures will also raise the borough's profile, create civic pride and attract thousands of visitors to the borough."
Charlie Langhorne, Director of Wild in Art, added: "We are thrilled to be working withAshford Borough Council and Pilgrims Hospiceson this event. Our events are designed to bring the enjoyment of public art to everyone while offering new ways for people to explore their local area. It will be a fantastic spectacle and is an excellent way to raise vital funds for thehospices."
Cate Russell, Pilgrims Chief Executive, said: "Our work is as much about supporting people with incurable illness to live as it is about caring for them at end of life. The Snowdogs trail will be a wonderful celebration of Ashford life, so we are really pleased to be involved.
"We know that so many local families face these sensitive issues and things can feel especially poignant at Christmas, so the project will also be a chance to work with local schools and community groups to explore these topics and highlight the support that's available for families."
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Notes for editors
High res images available on request
About Wild in Art
Wild in Art is one of the leading creative producers of spectacular, mass-appeal public events, which connect businesses, artists and local communities through the power of creativity and innovation.
Since 2008, Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Sydney, Melbourne, Cape Town and São Paulo and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Historic Royal Palaces and Aardman Animations.
Wild in Art events have:
•Attracted over 7 million additional visitors to host cities across the UK and worldwide
•Contributed over £1.2m to local creative communities
•Enabled over £10m to be raised for charitable causes
•Engaged over 100,000 young people in creative learning programmes
The Wild in Art apps powered by Mediaworks are available to download from the App Store and Google Play.
For further information about Wild in Art visit www.wildinart.co.uk | @Wild_in_Art
About Pilgrims Hospices
Each year Pilgrims supports hundreds of local people coping with incurable illness and their families and friends. The charity offers a wide range of services from its Wellbeing and Social Programme supporting people to live well and stay independent, to its community nursing team who support people to live independently in their own homes. It also offers end of life care from its three wards in Ashford, Canterbury and Margate and its Hospice at Home service, and a range of bereavement support.
About The Snowman™
Originally published in 1978, The Snowman, created and illustrated by Raymond Briggs has become one of the world's most popular children's books. Available in 15 languages it has sold in excess of 8.5 million copies worldwide with over 3 million of these sales in the UK published under Puffin editions. Adapted for screen by producer John Coates, the Oscar-nominated animation launched on Channel 4 in its inaugural year in 1982 and has been repeated every Christmas since. The sequel, The Snowman and The Snowdog premiered on Channel 4 on Christmas Eve 2012 and was seen by over 10 million people over the festive period. The Snowman™ brand enjoys an international audience with global broadcast of the sequel, along with an array of consumer products now available. Snowman Enterprises Limited (SEL) is part of Penguin Ventures.
About Penguin Ventures
Stories have always been at the heart of Penguin Random House. Penguin Ventures was created to bring together the Licensing, Consumer Products, TV Production, Retail, Exhibitions and Live events strategies and to find new ways to tell the world's favourite stories. Penguin Ventures manages a portfolio of licensed literary brands and characters together with an archive of original art. For many years, those characters lived mainly in books, but now they are providing the magic and wonder for all kinds of different consumer products, media and experiences, going beyond the book to tell the complete story.
For further information contact:
Darren Laws
Public relations
01634 671167
darren.laws@zesttheagency.com