BookBench sculptures in London to raise funds for National Literacy Trust
Howard Lake | 2 July 2014 | News
London is home this summer to 50 sculptures of benches shaped like open books which celebrate famous books linked to London and local artists. In October the sculptures will be auctioned to raise funds for the National Literacy Trust.
‘Books about Town’ is a joint project by the National Literacy Trust and Wild in Art, and are designed to celebrate London’s literary heritage and reading for enjoyment.
Children’s stories and classic titles
The books being depicted range from popular children’s stories such as The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Peter Pan to classic adult titles including 1984 and The Day of the Triffids. Sherlock Holmes, James Bond, Mary Poppins and Hercules Poirot are all featured on a bench.
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The BookBenches appear throughout London and are designed to be discovered by following literary trails in Greenwich, City of London, Riverside and Bloomsbury.
SEE ALSO: 50 Paddington statues to raise funds for the NSPCC (5 November 2014)
London artists
Axel Scheffler has illustrated a bench to celebrate his work with Julia Donaldson and the characters they have created together, including The Gruffalo and characters from their new book The Scarecrow’s Wedding.
Artist Ralph Steadman has has reproduced some of his 1973 illustrations for Lewis Caroll’s Through the Looking Glass on a BookBench. Other authors, illustrators and artists who have contributed to the project include authors Lauren Child (Clarice Bean), Cressida Cowell (How To Train Your Dragon), and Rae Smith, the Tony and Olivier award-winning stage designer of the National Theatre’s production of War Horse.
Cressida Cowell said:
“I am so excited to have designed a How to Train Your Dragon BookBench and to be part of the National Literacy Trust’s Books about Town campaign to celebrate the wealth of writing and illustrating talent in this country. I am hoping that ‘Books about Town’ will remind Londoners on the streets of the joy of reading books.”
Sally-Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art added:
“Our events are designed to bring the enjoyment of public art to thousands of people while offering new ways to explore a host city or town. We are delighted to be working with the National Literacy Trust on this project bringing many of our favourite books to life through the visual arts.”
Auction
The fundraising auction will take place at Londons South Bank on 7 October.
Fundraising art trails
- A selection of fundraising art trails for 2022 (17 March 2022)
- From races to art trails – fundraising events round-up (1 August 2022)
- The Grand Appeal’s Gromit Trail goes contactless (3 July 2018)
About Howard Lake
Howard Lake is consultant editor of UK Fundraising. He founded the site in 1994 and successfully sold it in 2022. As director of Giving X Ltd he is exploring growing giving on a massive scale.
He is the founder of Fundraising Camp and co-founder of GoodJobs.