How Toby’s Garden Festival is sponsoring community art project TRAIL’s Pollinator Sculpture Award 2018 and how you can help reduce the use of plastic straws by Trail’s Rose Bailey
TRAIL is having an exciting start to 2018 and this year’s Sculpture Trail and other environmental awareness activities, look to be bigger and better than ever! Our collaboration with the Marine Conservation Society last year has resulted in a project for 2018 which will see Teignmouth take action to cease the single use of plastic straws in the town. TRAIL will be involving the local community in creating a new jacket for the Marine Conservation Society’s Wallace the Wet Wipe Monster. The giant inflatable’s new jacket will be made entirely out of used/waste plastic straws being collected from local businesses since last Autumn.
We are working towards making Teignmouth plastic straw free by the end of May 2018, and watch our website www.trailart.co.uk for details of a celebratory event on the Den, when Wallace will be unveiled in his new coat!
February also sees us launch our new community art project ‘TeignVironment’, which will involve local residents coming together and using creative activities to improve the physical environment of the town. Free workshops will take place on Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings at TAAG, in Northumberland Place. More details from Project Leader, Sam Lock on 07379758735/ Twitter @ TeignVironment/ Facebook@ Teignmouthrecyceldartinlandscape.
Of course, our ‘main event’ is the Sculpture TRAIL during the school Summer holidays. It’s our 14th year and as usual, we hope to attract a wide range of works from professional artists, community groups, and schools. There are awards under a number of categories, and new this year is The Pollinator Sculpture Award, sponsored by Toby’s Garden Festival.
How about getting together with others and creating something interesting to look at, using recycled materials (at least 70%), and raising environmental awareness?
Last year Toby’s GardenFest sponsored a Living Sculpture Award, which encouraged entries which contained live plants. This year the emphasis is on raising awareness of the importance of bees and other pollinators for the survival of the planet. Any ideas? Why not come and have a chat with the TRAIL Team in the Curious Gardener tent at Toby’s GardenFest? Your sculpture might be seen by the thousands of local residents and visitors who enjoy the TRAIL each year! See www.trailart.co.uk for details on how to apply, and requirements for sculptures.
The TRAIL team will be sharing ideas on recycled garden art at Toby’s Garden Festival at Powderham Castle on 27 and 28 April.
