Take A Closer Look - Saturday 09 July
Time: 12:00
Celebrate the City’s new outdoor public art space! An exciting temporary home for many artworks in future years; this summer it opens with sculptures by Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie and Franz West.
The Big Draw joins forces with the Festival from Thursday 7 July – Sunday 10 July, inviting everyone to join in creative activities, to animate the new spaces and take a closer look…
Activities take place in and around Great St Helen’s, Undershaft and St Helen’s Square, EC3 from 12.00 – 5.00pm unless otherwise stated.
Places are limited for some activities and should be reserved on arrival at the Information Point in St Helen’s Square. All materials will be provided free.
12.00pm & 1.00pm
Spaces Between Buildings
Cartoonist Martha Richler leads fun, accessible pencil and charcoal sessions that encourage children and adults alike to set aside the skyline and explore the spaces in between. Pockets of hidden wildlife, City greenery and people provide the inspiration.
2.00pm & 3.00pm
Make a Good Impression!
Discover how to capture a street scene quickly and evocatively. Join Jorge Martin, an illustrator for National Geographic Travellers’ Magazine and Time Out, and sketch surprising vistas in the cityscape, from medieval churches and Victorian malls to modern skyscrapers. Fill a sketchbook or make a postcard.
2.00-5.00pm
From Brief to Vision with SAI
Join ‘design and illustrate’ workshops with the Society of Architectural Illustration (SAI) at various sites around 30 St Mary Axe. SAI artists invite participants to design and visualise their personal ideas for sites within the City of London using both traditional and digital media.
Meet: The Big Draw Marquee
3.00pm & 4.00pm
Between Heaven and Earth
Walk, draw and be entertained by stories of life on the City block. Join artist Josh Knowles to explore the ideas behind the structures that define the City’s streets and skyline: from ancient churches and maypoles to the Lloyd’s building, ‘Gherkin’ and new sculptures by Anish Kapoor, Julian Opie and Franz West.
2.00-5.00pm
Discoveries in Animation
Flick books to digital action - animate the imagery reflected in Kapoor’s Sky Mirror and inspired by Opie’s sculpture, Three Men Walking, and create your own walking, running or jumping people to populate the café gallery or to take home on a CD. Led by filmmaker Tess Laurence with University of Westminster students.
Location: Hiscox Art Café. Reserve places at the Information Point in St Helen’s Square.
Monuments to the Future
Use recycled materials to design and create your own models for monuments with sculptor Matt Caines, taking inspiration from the new sculpture trail and the Gilt of Cain in Fen Court.
Location: Leadenhall Market, Gracechurch Street, EC3. Finishes at 4.30 pm
The Print Bike
Visit a fully functioning printmaking studio transported by Brompton bicycle. Make colourful monoprints with artists Sally Labern and Bobby LLoyd for a pop-up exhibition. Despite its compact size, this mobile studio can accommodate 30 people creating large individual prints in response to the cityscape.
Chalkyvan
Sustainable designers [re]design roll in on four wheels with every surface of their retro van reconditioned and ready for chalking. Structured drawing activities and open sessions with the Chalkyvan team will take a step back from buildings to look at routes, maps, landmarks, navigation and orientation around the new open spaces in the east of the City.
Design and Decorate your own City
Be a city planner for the day with artist Nicola Burrell. Build your own relief paintings and sculptures inspired by the urban scene, using recycled card, paper and tons of colour.
Unfolding Skylines
Sketch your vision of the City skyline and add it to the collection to create an expanding panoramic collage. Compare perceptions and perspectives and discover how others see London.
Frame the City
Use pattern, shape and texture to evoke the atmosphere of this unique setting with the help of a viewfinder, guaranteed to make drawing easy and to produce great results.
Drawing Stall
Capture the essence of the objects on display – all with local or city connections. Help to fill and decorate the only market stall where no money changes hands. Exchange your creations for those made earlier by artists, or by other visitors.
Put Yourself in the Picture
Sign into the giant Big Draw Visitors Book with a doodle, sketch or mini-masterpiece.
Flock
An open-air exhibition of artwork inspired by London birdlife and created by over 100 young people with older adults working through the City of London Festival’s Education programme. With greenfinches, dunnocks and wrens just some of the native species who happily make a home in the bustling City, Flock considers local and migratory birds in London, often overlooked within the built environment.
Location: Great St Helen’s Churchyard
Elevated Art Fair 4
Now in its 4th year the Elevated Art Fair (Sunday 3 July – Sunday 10 July) brings together emerging talents from around the globe and promotes a wide range of urban and cult art, oil and acrylic paintings, watercolours, architectural art, photography, digital art and more. All direct from artists and commission free. Explore the Elevated Art Fair during TAKE A CLOSER LOOK and be creative in the magnificent surrounds of Leadenhall Market at the Monuments to the Future workshop from 12.00 – 4.30pm on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 July.
Location: Leadenhall Market
Presented in partnership with The Big Draw
Sponsored by Aviva, British Land and Hiscox
Supported by MTEC, Gagosian Gallery and Lisson Gallery
Photo credit: The Big Draw
Liverpool Street
