The Pavement Art of Stratford upon Avon

The Pavement Art of Stratford upon Avon

Have you come across the street art in Stratford on Avon? It is an absolutely fabulous piece of art work and worthy of exploring. When I first spotted parts of it several years ago I was intrigued as to what it was, other than random phrases, some not in English, words, sounds and occasional footprints, carved (actually ,it was sandblasted) into the pavement around the area of Henley Street, Shakespeare's birthplace and trust.

Ignoring the usual tourist stuff in that area I set off to discover more and soon realised that these were all events witnessed by the artist and recorded into the stone at the spot they occurred. What a brilliant idea. As the artwork meanders through this part of town, you can image what may have been taking place at the time that the artist was watching, a type of voyeur's record.

The observer catches the frivolous, the amusing and the unremarkable but when you trace it you get the feeling that you are witnessing it yourself; the stray comment next to a cash point, the command to “stay there”, the trail of bird’s footprints wandering arbitrary along among the pedestrians, the possible rebuke to a child; you can never know for sure what was taking place at that moment but it certainly inspires the imagination and I am keen to discover more when I am next in Stratford.

When you are in Stratford next and in the Henley Street area of the town, spare a moment to look down at the pavement between the café chairs and the tourist’s feet and you may find yourself looking in on something that happened at a particular time at the very spot years before – on Saturday 18th March to be precise.

'Saturday 18th March' by Janet Hodgson
  For more information: http://www.insitearts.com/projects/stratforduponavon/