POP ART
Reinventing Bedford's vacant retail space for creatives & the community.
POP Art is a place-making project delivered by Bedford Creative Arts in collaboration with Artist & Producer Talia Giles, to enliven Bedford’s empty high street shops through art.
Artists & Associates
There are currently around 50 empty units in Bedford town centre. POP Art aims to harness the talent of Bedford’s creative community to rejuvenate the town and showcase local artistic talent.
POP – an acronym for Pride of Place – will provide artists with empty shop windows to display their work; turning unused spaces into loved spaces.
How it works
BCA negotiates permission with an empty shop’s landlord to exhibit art in their shop window until a new tenant is found. The letting agent will continue to promote the vacant unit throughout the project.
Local artists are invited to apply for exhibition space and are matched with appropriate windows. They are provided with a 2 week-long exhibition period. The artists install their work using their own resources and remove it after the exhibition ends.
Please note that BCA are currently not taking any applications.
Landlords and agents – we can help
If you control an empty unit in the town centre we can provide exhibitions and pop-up activity as part of a rates mitigation scheme or simply as a way to keep your unit looking clean and attractive whilst its vacant – deterring vandalism & fly-posting.
We can ensure that your agent’s details remain prominently displayed throughout with a processional window vinyl and you can continue to undertake viewings whilst art is in the space. A short licence period means that you can easily terminate the Licence at short notice as soon as a tenant is agreed.
If you’re able to offer a unit for an arts exhibition space or a creative pop-up programme or art studio, please contact our Director Elaine Midgley to find out more elainem@bedfordcreativearts.org.uk 01234 818670.
Future development
POP Art provides public space to showcase the amazing talent of Bedford’s creative community and will transform Bedford’s town centre into a public gallery. By doing so, POP Art will make the town, well, POP.
This project is currently under review but we hope to be back with more pop-up news soon.
POP Art is delivered in partnership with Pride of Place Bedford and Bedford Creative Arts. This project is made possible thanks to Bedford Borough Council’s Town Centre Priority Fund and the Gale Family Trust.
We’d like to say an enormous thanks to our agents and landlords for making this project a reality.
