A swarm of giant, beautiful bees have landed in Manchester to create one of the largest mass participation art projects the city has ever seen. ‘Bee in the City’ was devised by Wild in Art and Manchester City Council to showcase the city’s different communities via a special trail of over 100 super-sized bees that each show a unique aspect of Manchester.
TransPennine Express have sponsored the ‘Manchester Movement Bee’ (which we also refer to as ‘Phoebee’), a sculpture designed by artist Shelley Jayne Crawford that will be based at Manchester Victoria Station. We recently interviewed Shelley and asked her thoughts on working with us and being part of the project.
She explained how the project is “such a great opportunity to work creatively alongside other artists” and that she is “over the moon” to be working with TransPennine Express. The bee is called the ‘Manchester Movement Bee’ because it symbolises the travel and movement that the city is known for.
Shelley, alongside the other artists, worked on the bee at The Hive of Creativity in Manchester. In total, it took her 10 days to illustrate and paint her design – a pretty impressive achievement!
A big part of the project is education and getting more children and adults actively involved in art. Shelley and TransPennine Express recently visited Gorse Hall Primary School in Tameside to promote Bee in the City. The children kids had the opportunity to get creative and draw their very own bee, with a little help from Shelley.
Make sure to visit Manchester Victoria Station to see the ‘Manchester Movement Bee’ and unlock your reward on the Bee in the City app.
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