Sunderland Arts and Culture Trail set to launch this weekend to increase city centre footfall and trade

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A new cultural trail helping to pull in visitors and profile the city’s artists will be officially unveiled at the weekend.

Sunderland Arts and Culture Trail is due to launch this Saturday (July 6) in a bid to raise the profile of the city’s creative talents and to help increase footfall into restaurants, cafes and bars.

Running for two weeks until Sunday July 21, the two-mile trail will see the work of over 60 artists - 90% of whom are from Sunderland - showcased at 45 venues across the city.

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The main trail is focused in the Sunniside area of the city and will cover venues including Diego’s Joint, Pop Recs and the Fire Station as well as the City Hall and Sunderland Museum and Winter Gardens.

Artists Su Devine and Dale Hardy with Sunderland BID chief executive Sharon Appleby (centre), at Diego's Joint which is one of the venues involved in the trail.Artists Su Devine and Dale Hardy with Sunderland BID chief executive Sharon Appleby (centre), at Diego's Joint which is one of the venues involved in the trail.
Artists Su Devine and Dale Hardy with Sunderland BID chief executive Sharon Appleby (centre), at Diego's Joint which is one of the venues involved in the trail. | sn

The event has been organised by local artists Dale Hardy and Su Devine.

Dale, 50, who will be displaying his own paintings at five venues, said: “This is a chance for local artists to showcase their creative talents and the pieces on display will be available to buy after the trail has finished.

“It’s also a chance for artists and venues to develop a mutually beneficial relationship for pieces of art to be displayed beyond the period of the trail.”

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Su, 53, who will be displaying her sculpture ‘A Tree Of Emotions’, added: “We have a lot of great cultural organisations in the city but not always enough opportunities for people to showcase their talents.

“There will be paintings and sculptures on display, poetry being recited as well as performances of ballet, dance and songs.

“There will also be book launches and signings.”

The build-up to the trail has also seen over 300 hundred pieces of art submitted by budding artists as part of a community competition, with 30 entries chosen to be displayed in the Museum and Winter Gardens.

A key aim of the project is to increase footfall and trade for the businesses displaying or hosting the art and is one of the reasons why Sunderland Business Improvement District (BID) have backed the initiative with deployment of staff and £10,000 of funding.

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Sunderland BID CEO Sharon Appleby said: “We are here to improve business in the city. Art brings happiness and with it increased footfall and money being spent in local businesses.

“Art and culture is a massive part of the regeneration of the city and needs to be taken seriously and this project shows this collaboration between art an business.”

Dale added: “It’s fantastic that Sunderland BID is involved and we really couldn’t have expanded the trail to what it now is without them.

“It is taking art out the traditional galleries and allowing more people to see it in a different context.

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“The fact we have over 60 artists and 45 venues around the city involved shows the demand for this initiative and platform.”

Maps and further information about the trail can be found on the Sunderland Arts and Culture Trail website as well as hard copies of the route being able to be collected from the venues involved.

Dale, Su and Sunderland BID are now planning to make the trail an annual event.

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