Elephant Parade in Southampton

Finding an art trail in Southampton.

We enjoy finding and following art trails on our travels and we spotted two while in Southampton. The first was The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail and the second was the Elephant Parade - the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues - where there were 25 elephant statues at the Westquay shopping, dining and entertainment centre.

Visit the Elephant Parade section of the Westquay website for more information.

The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail in Southampton

Finding an art trail in Southampton.

It's always fun finding art trails when out exploring and while in Southampton we found two. The first was The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail.

The 400 mosaics were placed around the city to mark the 400th anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower from the UK to America.

The other art trail was the Elephant Parade - the world’s largest art exhibition of decorated elephant statues.

Visit the The Mayor's Mayflower Mosaic Trail section of the Southampton council website for more information.

Halloween in the City - Manchester 2020

The Halloween in the City Monster Trail is up and running until Sunday 1st November.

There are seven giant inflatable monsters to track down around the city centre.

The Halloween in the City Dragon at The Printworks last year

Check out the Visit Manchester website for more information and to download the location map.

Take a look at my blog posts from last year's Halloween in the City:

• Manchester's Halloween in the City
• Halloween in the City 2019
• Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters
• Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

Artainment and the world of minigolf

A look at how minigolf has been used in artistic creations.

We've seen the worlds of art and minigolf combine a number of times over the years.

A relatively new term for this combination is 'artainment' - where art and entertainment mix to immerse visitors to an exhibition, gallery or installation in an interactive experience.

Playing Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course at York Art Gallery in 2017

We've seen a number of art trails created in the last couple of years and they are becoming a popular part of 'retailtainment' and 'shoppertainment' where entertainment options have been added to the high street or shopping malls to help attract and retain customers.

Crazy Golf and art.

There is currently an art installation pop-up Crazy Golf course at Coal Drop's Yard in King's Cross, London. It's playable until the 29th March. Club Golf is a combination of sport, art and retail entertainment. Artists Baker & Borowski created the 9-hole themed Crazy Golf layout inspired by the rave culture in the King's Cross area back in the 1980's and 90's.

Club Golf at the Coal Drops Yard shopping and dining area in King's Cross, London

Minigolf is a very visual thing and each course is a work of art in its own right. We love seeing time, effort and thought put into the design of a minigolf hole and when they are aesthetically pleasing it's marvellous.

Playing hole 1 of Putt Putt #2 in Croydon in 2014

My favourite miniature golf layouts are Arnold Palmer Putting Courses. They are a design classic and look wonderful. They are also a real test of putting skill and incredibly playable today.

The old Arnold Palmer Putting Course from The Rotunda amusement park in Folkestone was turned into an art installation in the seaside town back in 2008.

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone

New art-based minigolf courses in 2020.

This September the Creative Folkestone Triennial will play host to an amusement arcade and crazy golf-themed art installation by the artist genuinefake (Rachel Stella Jenkins).

My friend Jack Hurley aka Loud Ribs of Rubbish Seaside fame has also let me know about an art-based Crazy Golf course being created at Saltaire in Bradford over the May Bank Holiday weekend.

The art-based minigolf courses we've visited on our Crazy World of Minigolf Tour include:

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone in 2010.

18 Holes by Richard Wilson in Folkestone

Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London in 2012.

Crazee Golf at the Tintype Art Gallery in London

Bompas & Parr's Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party saw a 9-hole London & Cake-themed Crazy Golf course created at Selfridges Oxford Street in London in 2012.

Bompas & Parr's Big Rooftop Tea & Golf Party Crazy Golf at Selfridges Oxford Street in London

M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford in 2013.

M!MS Empire Sunset Nine Hole Mini Golf course in Bedford

Putt Putt #2 by TURF Projects in Croydon in 2014.

Putt Putt #2 by TURF Projects in Croydon

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham in 2016.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at the New Art Exchange in Nottingham

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at York Art Gallery in 2017.

Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf at York Art Gallery

Our friends Gareth and Lurlyn Holmes played Doug Fishbone's Leisure Land Golf course at the Venice Biennale in 2015.

Doug Fishbone’s Leisure Land Golf in Venice. Photo by Gareth & Lurlyn Holmes, 2015

Also in 2015 our friends Matt and Helen Dodd played the Mini Gulf course at Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park in Weston-super-Mare.

Mini Gulf course at Banksy's Dismaland Bemusement Park in Weston-super-Mare. Photo by Matt Dodd, 2015

There was Crazy Golf at Clerkenwell Design Week in 2014. But we didn't get to play the course.

There were plans for a Visionary Golf course to be created in Trafalgar Square as part of the London Design Festival in 2016. However, the funding campaign was unsuccessful.

There was a Post-Apocalyptic Minigolf course at the Now Play This festival in London in 2017. However, we didn't manage to get along to play it.

Art and minigolf in the USA.

Our friends Tom and Robin at A Couple of Putts in the USA have also played on and created a number of art-minigolf holes on their adventures, including Sparkle City Mini Putt in Spartanburg, South Carolina.

The team at The Putting Penguin have seen and reviewed a number of art designed courses over the years too.

We're looking forward to seeing where the next art-based minigolf course pops up.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Art Trails
- Crazy Golf
- Minigolf

Halloween in the City monster at Screamfields in Manchester

A look at the Halloween in the City monster at Spinningfields in Manchester.

The tentacled monster at Spinningfields

One of the monsters on the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail is at Screamfields, aka Spinningfields.

Some very find gardening

Pest control will need a lot of bug spray to get rid of this monster

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Manchester's Halloween in the City

Following the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail.

We had a brilliant day out in Manchester yesterday and followed the Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters art trail around the city.

Look up! Look out! Beware!

The Mayfield Depot monster

The Royal Exchange monster

A monster on Ducie Street

Halloween in the City is a brilliant way to get people out and about exploring Manchester.

The entrance to the Poisonous Maze!

A grim sign for MCR

'Manchester Monster Invasion: Return of the Monsters' continues until Halloween night. Visit the Halloween in the City website for more information.

Art and sculpture trails

A look at some of the art and and sculpture trails we've followed this year.

This summer we've seen a number of different art and sculpture trails pop-up in Greater Manchester and beyond.

Last year there was the Bee in the City trail in Manchester with 100 big bees and 130 little bees to spot. Some of those are still in situ.

A bee in Didsbury

There was also an ice sculpture trail in Stockport town centre last December and this summer the town has had a very popular frog trail with 22 decorated frogs to spot on the Giant Leap.

A froggy character was part of the Stockport Ice Trail last December

Edgeleap, the Stockport County frog

As fans of tickable lists, wandering and exploring we've enjoyed the different art and sculpture trails we've taken part in.

Earlier this summer the Trafford Centre had a Big Bug Tour and on a recent trip to the Lowry Outlet mall in Media City we saw there was a Bear Hunt.

Meadow grasshopper - number 8 on the Big Bug Tour

Sitting on a sitting Grizzly Bear - number 2 on the Lowry Outlet's Bear Hunt

The latest trail we followed was quite unexpected. On a trip to visit family and friends in Ipswich we noticed an elephant sculpture at the side of the road and soon noticed a lot more of them on the drive to our hotel.

Elephant number 1 - Pip - the first of the elephants we saw

They were part of Elmer's Big Parade Suffolk in aid of St Elizabeth Hospice with 139 placed around Ipswich. In the short time we were in town we managed to find 55 of them.

Nine of the elephants on parade in Ipswich

We've also found quite a few more of the Space Invader pieces of street art by the French artist Invader on our trips to London and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, as well as seeing some reactivated pieces in Manchester city centre.

The seven Invaders in Gateshead

A selection of the Invaders in Manchester

The various trails and maps we've followed have seen us explore new places, see different things and also rediscover parts of towns and cities.

They're a nice way to bring communities together, attract and retain visitors to towns, shopping centres and malls, as well as raising money for good causes.

Do you have a favourite art-trail, or know of others? Do let us know in the comments.

Related blog posts:
- Art
- Sculptures
- Tickable Lists