North East will be on the trail of a sheepish star
THE Oscar-winning animation studio behind Shaun the Sheep hopes that the much-loved character will inspire youngsters to follow in its creative footsteps.
As the sheepish star was revealed to be the theme of an upcoming art trail around Newcastle, Aardman Animations’ commercial director Rob Goodchild told how pleased the company is to be involved with what promises to be a hugely popular charity fundraiser.
And he added: “The art project will hopefully inspire kids to get creative.”
Following in the paw-prints of St Oswald’s Hospice’s previous local sculpture trails which began with The Great North Snowdogs in 2016, up to 50 versions of Shaun will be popping up throughout the city next year.
The character, described as “the world’s favourite sheep”, was unveiled on Tuesday as being the star of a 2023 summer art trail - Shaun the Sheep on the Tyne - which will be raising money for the Newcastle-based charity.
A first sculpture was uncovered alongside some real-life sheep from Ouseburn Farm and Steph Whitehead, head of communications and marketing at the charity which supports local children with cancer, said the fundraiser is set to be a vital money-maker for St Oswald’s in the wake of its pandemic struggles.
“It’s one of the best fundraising campaigns that we’ve got,” she said.
Shaun the Sheep delighted the onlookers at its unveiling and Steph thinks the character’s mischievous and fun personality will be ideal for tempting families to get out and about on the trail.
“So far the response has been fantastic,” she added.
Working in a similar way to the Snowdog trail and the subsequent Elmer the Elephant trail in 2019, a collection of plain Shaun the Sheep sculptures will be individually decorated by a range of local artists before their colourful creations are positioned at various citywide locations for families to discover on a walkabout.
Once again, local schoolchildren also will have an opportunity to come up with designs for a trail of mini sheep sculptures which go on show at the same time.
With creative genius Aardman behind such famous characters as Morph, Wallace & Gromit and Chicken Run, Rob hopes that Shaun will have a knock-on inspiring effect on the children who will be involved in the project’s school programme which will invite them to unleash their own arty talents.
He said that while people in the UK tend to immediately think of Wallace & Gromit whenever Aardman is mentioned, everybody knows and loves the sheep which has become quite a superstar.
“It’s popular all over the world, from Japan to China, Korea and Europe,” he said. “We think he’s the world’s favourite sheep!”
Discussions and plans for the upcoming trail have been taking shape over the past year, he added.
While a sculpture of Shaun already has been seen in Bristol and in London, this northern project marks the company’s first independent trail showcasing the TV and film favourite.
Funds for St Oswald’s Hospice will be raised through having local companies and organisations sponsor the main sculptures which, at the end of their period of display, will be auctioned off to add further to the pot.
The trail, which again involves outdoor production company Wild in Art, will run from July 23 to September 27, 2023.