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In July and August 2024, we hosted the Greener Piccadilly Art Competition and Exhibition, where we invited local artists to share their ideas for a more sustainable city centre. Building on the success of last year's initiative, this project aimed to inspire creativity within our community and start a conversation about how our neighbourhood can evolve to better serve both current residents and future generations.
We received a diverse array of entries from local artists, each presenting a unique vision - from vibrant green spaces teeming with wildlife to community-oriented areas and advanced eco-tech solutions. The artworks, created in various mediums such as watercolour, acrylics, lino print, digital art, and mixed-media collages using natural and recycled materials, showcase the rich creativity of our local community.
Submissions were made in two age categories: under 15 and 15+, highlighting collaborative efforts between parents and children, as well as contributions from artists across the region, including Leeds and Tadcaster. Each entry was carefully assessed by an expert panel of Spark's resident artists, including Leon François Dumont, Jessica Mallorie, and Kat Olsson.
The exhibition ran from 31 August to 1 September in our upstairs SHOW space.
Take a look at these inspiring works and imagine a greener future for Piccadilly!
Submissions in the 'Under 15' category
The Big Frog by Edison Richard West, Winner of under 15 category Animals make me smile so it is important to look after their homes. My picture is multicoloured and it has nature and Patrick the Blue and Red Frog with a nice blue Sky. I like the moonlight and the tree roots. Thank you for looking at my picture.
Eco Sign by Florence Ibson, Under 15 category My name is Florence Ibson and I designed this part of Piccadilly because I thought it was a challenge to draw where the two roads meet and one building that featured wooden architecture from the olden days. My green makeover includes a grass road, recycle bins, solar panels, wildflowers, eco electricity, an eco tap, I have placed “eco signs” across the street scene to encourage people to be environmentally friendly.
Butterfly City by Chester Tritton-Hughes, Under 15 category Chester wants to see more insects on Piccadilly and to show this he has found items from around York to use and represent butterflies surrounding a flower and clouds he has imagined.
Robin by William Tutill, Under 15 category William is 6 years old and enjoys painting birds because it's fun and relaxing. This painting was made with potato-print feathers.
Submissions in the '15+' category
A Space for Community by Rosie Gray, Winner of 15+ category I am local to York and interested in how we can use community in our city to build resilience in the face of the climate crisis. Therefore, I put creating space for community at the focus of my collage. A social supermarket, a climate focused bookshop and a shared community space were the three initiatives I imagined which, through different means, could facilitate these connections. I also included a community garden, with the idea of offering an opportunity for locals to build connections through shared nurturing of the garden.
Green Piccadilly by Lara Aitken, 15+ category I’m an illustrator from York and I have a passion for storytelling and love themes of nature and folklore. I love to create images that show the world through my eyes, finding creatures and appreciating the beauty of nature. I hope to make art accessible in the everyday setting for everyone and create a more vibrant and beautiful community by filling our spaces with illustrations. My piece depicts Piccadilly as a dense jungle of green, full of biodiversity and wildlife. Envisioning the space as somewhere for wildlife and people to flourish and appreciate the beauty and benefit of nature. Web: laraaitken.co.uk / IG: @laraaitkenillustration
The Cheeky Lemurs by Christopher James Mclennan West, 15+ category Creating a wonderful synergy between the natural world and our urban environments is going to be crucial for many species, not just ours. I first became aware of the importance of this when working on a case study showcasing how The city of Prague is using nature and city planning to reduce heatwaves through the planting of trees. My picture represents the struggle between humans and animals in the setting of Piccadilly Gardens. The endangered lemurs of Madagascar represent the relationship between my son and me (his favourite Teddy) and the history of York, coming together to inspire future generations.
Piccadilly Eco-Village by Andrew Ward, 15+ category Hi, I'm Andrew Ward, a graphic designer based in Tadcaster. Artwork created digitally using Adobe Illustrator. Welcome to the Piccadilly Eco-Village, a green oasis in the heart of York. Here, you will discover a vast array of sustainable ideas such as; a community vegetable garden, a watermill producing hydroelectricity, rooftop green spaces and trees to absorb carbon, and the utilisation of wind turbines and solar panels. Piccadilly has been rewilded into a green space for nature and humans to thrive with minimal impact to the environment.
Green Lens by Abbie Broadhead, 15+ category Hi! I’m Abbie, 20, and I’m (soon to be) studying Illustration Animation at KSA. My project aim was to translate Piccadilly’s existing urban topography into a nature teeming, eco-landscape, or, view it through a ‘green lens’. I’ve presented this idea through a 9 page, single-sided concertina. Each page represents a section of Piccadilly and features a series of monoprints created using natural ephemera from Piccadilly, either printed directly onto the page or saddle stitched on afterwards. The concertina aims to communicate the key elements, visual forms and text from the area; conveying an accurate yet figmental interpretation of York’s Piccadilly. IG: @abbsart_
From the top of the Piccadilly Forest Canopy, York 2224 by Richard Kitchen, 15+ category I'm a co-founder of Navigators Art, a York-based collective of artists, writers, musicians and performers. My collages are often fuelled by original poems and drawings together with references to literature and myth. I also experiment with a fusion of hands-on and digital forms. This piece imagines a forest platform high above the city in 2224, which nurtures and displays flora and fauna in natural habitats. Its Piccadilly location is in ideal proximity to the river and SPARK (Society for the Propagation of Art, Reason and Knowledge): a beacon of hope and good practice for all to enjoy and learn from. IG: @richardkitchenart / FB: richardkitchenart
Piccadilly 2117 by Puppalina Thomas, 15+ category This mixed media collage imagines a new futuristic world where colour and variety surrounds us. The concrete and grey misery of the car laden Piccadilly is stripped away, and replaced with a hyper-real abstract vision of a new space. Unique giant organic 'growths' emerge, leaving the viewer to imagine which of their senses the forms might tickle. They could be scents, food or have medicinal or practical uses. A world where transportation has been transformed is shown, with the artist's mum riding into the scene on a horse statue from Rowntree park.
The Piccadilly Cycle by Dan Cole, 15+ category My work simply shows the order that we can do to create a thriving green space, showing the continuous cycle which starts and ends with grow. My name is Dan and I like doing lino print to highlight simple but key messages in an effective way. IG: @sliceoflino
In the Shade by Aleksander Aare, 15+ category I feel used to seeing well meaning green projects but a lot of them feel like the bells and whistles of sustainability rather than what would help to make a significant change to our community - like changes to environmental policies, housing etc. I feel like people in need are often forgotten or treated as something to get rid off or hide from public view. Painting for me has gone through several stages, from being more academic, to forgetting it all and just painting how I feel.
Sigh of Welcome by Madeleine Chamberlain, 15+ category I’m a local artist who mostly paints watercolours to accompany my poetry. This painting depicts sustainable Spark with solar panels surrounded by trees and parks. I have included a quote from one of my poems; ‘nature breathes out a sigh of welcome’. IG: @madsgoesarty
Blooming Piccadilly by Marianne Tritton-Hughes, 15+ category This piece contrasts an urban scene with a garden made from recycled materials. The upper part features a painted cityscape, while the lower part showcases flowers crafted from crisp packets. This piece highlights the beauty of sustainability by transforming waste into art, promoting the importance of recycling and creative reuse. The juxtaposition of the urban setting with the recycled garden emphasizes the need for sustainable practices in our daily lives.
A View Worth Preserving? by John Gray, 15+ category I've lived in York since 1996. The view this summer from Piccadilly has been so precious: when were we last able to see Clifford's Tower from street level? The photograph and poem hides and then reveals that view to the Tower. Together, they ask us: Is this view important to us? Or do we surrender to the rebuild, lose the view again, and just wait for the next demolition? Do we stay strangled by an economic worldview driving us faster and faster out of the ecological safe zone? Or do we recognise that creating an alternative is in our hands?
During the exhibition, visitors shared their ideas for a more sustainable city centre on our "Your Vision of Piccadilly" wall.
We celebrated the launch of the exhibition with an evening event featuring the art competition participants.
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