£3m pro bono support and £132k from crowdfunding will see British art chosen by the public displayed on poster sites across the country.
The Meeting, Or Have a Nice Day Mr Hockney, Peter Blake, Tate, 1981-83
Tens of thousands of poster sites ranging from billboards to bus stops will be displaying artworks on high streets, major roads, tube and train stations, supermarkets and shopping malls across the UK for two weeks from 12 August. The selection of artists has been made by the public from the national collection of British art, and includes work by Holbein, Constable, Bacon, Freud, Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst, with the top 10 including Waterhouse’s The Lady of Shalott, Millais’ Ophelia, Turner’s The Fighting Temeraire and LS Lowry’s Going to the Match. A total of twenty-three contemporary works are among the selection. The initiative is the result of a collaborative project led by Richard Reed, co-founder of Innocent Drinks, the Art Fund and Tate, and involving a number of commercial advertising organisations, including out-of-home media companies and advertising agencies. Some of the costs of the campaign have been covered by crowdfunding, which raised a total of £132k, though pro bono arrangements also played a part. The partners, including Richard Reed, put in 15K each. Other partners, including those in the poster industry, 101 Creative Agency, Easyart and Blippar all contributed their expertise and services in kind, valued at an estimated £3m.