The Dulwich Street Art guided walks were set up to introduce new and different people to Dulwich Picture Gallery - and they have certainly drawn the crowds. They came to see the C21 street artists whose work they knew and loved, and to discover the C17 Baroque artists whose work they did not know.
The two walks this month have attracted 60 and 80 people respectively. Two guides were needed. A show of hands indicated only about 10% of the walkers had ever been to Dulwich Picture Gallery. The extraordinary amount of hard work the Richard Howard-Griffin from Street Art London and Ingrid Beazley from Dulwich have put in to promote Dulwich Picture Gallery to new a audience, has paid off big time.
‘I have to say its really quite inspiring in terms of putting a modern interpretation on the old masters. I had never heard of Dulwich Picture Gallery before the walk but now that I have been I love it. ’ Stuart
‘On Sunday, I came to your Dulwich Street Art tour and loved looking at the different types of street art. It opened my eyes to a whole new area of art that otherwise I wouldn’t have known about.’ Anna
There have been some unexpected spin-offs.
‘I am a primary school teacher at a nearby school which is in quite a deprived area and I doubt that hardly any of the children have been to a gallery before. But I want their first experience of real artists work to be fun, exciting and colourful to get them interested in art. I have been to Dulwich Picture Gallery before and was worried the children would not appreciate the art work there but having been on your tour which links street art with the old masters, it combines the two brilliantly well and I think the kids would love it.’
‘In the 15 years I have been guiding at Dulwich Picture Gallery I have never spoken to such a big crowd before’ Ingrid
Local shops have reported increased business, a local estate agency links to the film about the project in its newsletters in order to define the area and recently a couple had their wedding photos taken in front of one of the murals!
There will be one more walk this year, this one organised by the Friends of Dulwich Picture Gallery. Sunday 29th September at 2pm. For more info and to book click here.
2 Comments
Ingrid recently organised a tour of Dulwich street art for us. The tour was so informative and interesting, and it was great to see modern takes on old art. Ingrid was really passionate and was an excellent host, we would do it again in a flash!
I had no idea what to expect when I booked for Ingrid’s Dulwich street art tour so I was very surprised that I thoroughly enjoyed it. Ingrid is very informative and enthusiastic and she made it so interesting. It was fascinating when she compared the murals with the paintings in Dulwich Picture Gallery and it has changed my view of street artists. I am planning to see more street art. Don’t miss it!