The art festival will take place in Ouseburn, Newcastle, in July if it can receive enough support
- Author, Jonny Manning
- Role, BBC News, North East and Cumbria
A city street art festival hopes to get off the ground, if has enough support from the public.
Elements is aiming to create an outdoor event made of more than a dozen wall murals in Ouseburn, Newcastle.
To do so, it has launched a special-type of crowdfunding campaign, which would bring in more funding if enough support is shown.
Artist Mark Shields, who is organising the festival, said Elements wanted to create an “outdoor gallery” showcasing “Newcastle’s thriving art scene”.
The festival is being led by Mr Shields, who goes by the name Mark One87, alongside community interest company Building Culture and project management firm Project North East (PNE).
‘Nurturing local pride’
Organisers aim to raise about £37,000, and if it gets the support it needs the event would be held in July.
Over a dozen mural artists have signed up to take part, including Mul, Bobzilla, Mr Zee, Cack Handed Kid, Creative Ginger and Sune.
Elements would also include live demonstrations, workshops, markets and live music.
Mr Shields said: “Elements aims to add to the Ouseburn as an outdoor gallery, showcasing Newcastle’s thriving art scene and nurturing local pride by building on the work done over the years by many local artists.”
The festival is crowdfunding through Spacehive, which sees projects supported by the community matched with other funders.
“That means if enough people support the project we are more likely to get a significant contribution to the total,” Mr Shields added.
