Art is at the heart of Arundel Festival spectacular

Staci Mendoza-Quinn, an accomplished artist and chairman of Littlehampton’s Organisation of Contemporary Arts (LOCA) who has been heavily involved in the arrangements, believes three interactive events in particular will bring art to life for the town and provide a feast for the eyes of both participants and spectators.

On the very first day of the festival, Saturday, August 16, Steve Carroll will be leading a ‘sketch crawl’ around Arundel, setting off from the Town Quay at 10.45am.

For this guided walk, Steve - a renowned Sussex artist, art historian, Northbrook College lecturer and leader of the Sussex Crawlers – has picked out eight different locations of artistic interest at which participants are invited to sketch and draw.

Artists of all capabilities can join in – all that’s needed is a sketch pad, drawing materials and a packed lunch.

For more details visit LOCA and Sussex Sketch Crawlers on Facebook.

A week later, on Saturday, August 23, there will be a storyboard creation and talk entitled Heart of War by internationally-published graphic novelist Jimmy Pearson at the Swan Hotel, from midday to 5pm.

And throughout the afternoon of Sunday, August 24, there will be a real treat and lots of fun in store for children and adults alike, at Sparks Yard and the Swan Hotel.

In Coming to Life: Tales from a Golden Era in Children’s Literature, special effects creators Maggot Pie will be working with four teams of artists to create 3D street art in four different locations, with scenes from popular children’s stories during the 1914-18 period.

The artists will create the backdrop scenery while Maggot Pie will bring to life a character in each scene.

The classic children’s tales and characters featured will be The Lost Boys of Peter Pan, by J. M. Barrie, the Brothers Grimm’s Little Red Riding Hood, Lewis Carroll’s Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, and the Pirates of Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson.

“It will be like impromptu movie scenes with spectacular special effects – lots of fun,” said Staci. “Live, interactive art is very important.

“This is the second year we have done Arundel Festival and it proved very popular last year.

“People like being involved and able to interact with the art.”

Throughout the festival, artist Abby Wilkinson will be painting live at the front of the Arundel Eccentrics antiques warehouse, and of course every day of the event, the streets will be filled with entertainment of all kinds, most of it free.

This year’s street art is being sponsored by Littlehampton-based Titan Storage Solutions, a keen festival supporter which has previously entered a team in the bathtub race.

“This year we didn’t have a chance to get a boat ready for the bathtub race, but we wanted to be involved in the festival and are looking forward, so we decided to sponsor the street art,” said Titan’s deputy manager, Aaron Winter.

“It’s very interesting and intriguing and a great thing to sponsor for the local area – something very different.

“This year we thought we would get a bit more involved by being around in the town at the festival and for the final weekend we’ll have members of staff following the artists and finding out how we can help in the community – we very much want to be part of the community.

“We are really looking forward to getting into the town during the festival.

“It’s been great working with the Arundel Festival committee – they are brilliant, there’s no other way to describe them.”

n For more details about the street art or to find out more information about the Littlehampton Organisation of Contemporary Art, visit www.facebook.com/LOCALittlehamptonArts