Creative Expressions in Libraries: Loughborough Library
In our third year of NPO activity we are excited to be working in Loughborough Library.
The Loughborough Library Working Group has considered various factors, including the full reopening of the children’s library following extensive refurbishment, and have decided to start the year with an exciting wall art project. This innovative project will embed ‘eye-spy’ elements into the art to create an interactive element and plans to incorporate a live installation so that the community can see the art come to life.
Consultation with children
1,020 primary aged children across 4 primary school within Loughborough were consulted on what they thought the artwork should be like. The children offered their suggestions on:
- What they liked and disliked about eye-spy books
- Potential themes for the artwork
- Elements that the artist could hide
- What objects from Charnwood Museum could be incorporated
- How the artist can hide elements within the art
Finally, the children created their own piece of eye-spy art. Some pieces will be used to create an exhibition to celebrate the launch of the completed artwork.
44 themes in total were identified by the children. The top four suggestions, in order of number of times proposed, were:
- Nature
- Stories coming out of books
- Animals
- Magic
Results: Eye-spy elements
59 suggestions were made, with additional elements found within the later drawings. The elements that were suggested were within the same subjects as the themes that were most put forward: Nature and Animals.
Results: Museum Artefacts
Children voted on which museum artefacts they felt should be included in the artwork. The vote was very close, however animals followed by fossils had the most votes. These objects again tie in well with the chosen theme.
The full report of our consultation with the children can be found here: Schools evaluation report
Creative Practitioner and Next Steps
Having established a clear direction for the eye-spy wall art, our next step was to find creative practitioner to bring the children’s ideas to life. After an extensive recruitment process*, the library working group appointed Jessi Illustrates to design and create our wall art. A location for the artwork has been decided within the children’s library and after a few sketches that we have all revised together, our final design is ready to be supersized! Jessi will be painting the design live during library opening hours on 16th – 18th September and 23-25 September 2025. Following the installation, Jessi will be delivering 6 workshops in the library to engage library users, both established and new, in the eye-spy art piece. Watch this space for more information!
*Having had many fabulous applications, we decided that arts co-op Paper Rhino had so many skills and so much experience that would be fabulous for an art project aimed at teens and young people so… Coming soon: Wall art project number two, this time with embedded Augmented Reality aspects!
Community Participation Workers within the Culture Leicestershire team manage the work of Creative Practitioners, providing support, direction, and advice. Stephanie Strange is the Community Participation Worker managing this project. Please email or call with any informal enquiries: stephanie.strange@leics.gov.uk 0116 3058760.