A brand new art exhibition aimed at students is being shown at Coventry’s most popular art gallery.
Street Art, from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, is showcasing at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum in Jordan Well, Coventry, until 16th January 2011. Over 1,500 people, who were mainly students, attended the launch, which included a live freestyle MC on stage, and a live street art battle between the artists and the public. The event was mainly held to encourage more students and younger people to come to the art gallery and museum.
The Herbert’s Work with Students
The Herbert works closely alongside Coventry University and exhibits a lot of students work from the faculty of Art and Design. The art gallery and museum does not charge for admission and so is a good place for students to enjoy a quality, cultural and educational day out. The most recent student exhibition that the art gallery hosted, was the annual MA Contemporary Practice degree show, which was showcased upstairs in the studio from Friday 24th September until Sunday 10th October 2010.
Street Art from The V&A
The Street Art exhibition showcases work from the most well-known and up and coming street artists in Britain, including works from Banksy, Sickboy and D*Face. The Herbert is the first art gallery in the UK to be hosting the new touring exhibition from the Victoria and Albert Museum, read more from here.
The exhibition is split into three parts, Fresh Paint, Breaking Down The Wall and Street Art from The V&A. Fresh Paint is the first exhibition of its kind that the Herbert has ever hosted, as six artists, including street-artist Ben Slow, were specially commissioned to create new pieces of street art for the exhibition, where they spray-painted and created their art pieces in the actual gallery.
The Herbert is also showing another exhibition alongside the Street Art exhibit, called Breaking Down The Wall,which displays aerosol art from Birmingham graffiti artist Mohammed Ali, who is also known as AerosolArabic in the street art world.
The public response to the Street Art exhibition has been outstanding. It has attracted on average around 300 students to the gallery a day, which was an aim for the marketing department, as they wanted to widen the gallery’s audience and appeal to all.
“The Best Family Friendly Museum in Britain”
The Herbert also won the best family friendly award in the local 2010 Coventry Godiva Awards. The Godiva Awards recognise the best public facilities in Coventry and Warwickshire, such as bars, restaurants, hotels and entertainment and leisure facilities. The award-winning museum did not only win the best family friendly venue in Coventry; the Godiva award came a few months after the art gallery won the prestigious Best Family Friendly Museum in Britain Award from the UK national newspaper, The Guardian. The Herbert also came runner-up in the Art Fund Prize last year, so 2010 was a successful year for the museum’s art and heritage in Coventry.
“Rounded off an amazing year”
Jamie Perry, Head of Marketing and Communications at The Herbert Art Gallery & Museum, said, “’To win this award by local visitors and a tough selection of judges really did round off an amazing year. The staff at the Herbert work tirelessly to ensure our work, services, events, exhibitions and activities are accessible, educational, inspiring and fun. I would also like to credit the support of our major funders, Coventry City Council and The Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. Without their vision we would not be able welcome the 319,000 visitors who come through our doors every year.”
