the street is our gallery

The night sky has been lit up with the lyrics of the Arctic Monkeys which sing over the South Yorkshire landscape. The Rotherham children have reclaimed the lyrics to celebrate the City becoming the first Children Capital of Culture. This is a year-long programme that launched with a bang by partnering with Art of Protest (AOP), a team of creatives, led by Jeff Clark. AOP through consultation with young people have transformed the landscape with three land art installations in Rotherham’s green spaces.

A 25 meter illuminated Hollywood hill-style sign sits atop of Rother Valley Country Park. Spelling out “You’re Not From New York, You’re From Rov’rum” in homage to the famous Arctic Monkey lyrics. Creators hope the sign will give young people a sense of pride in their home town during the landmark year for the borough. Captured in the drone footage, you can feel the sense of ambition for the pieces.

As well as the leading Rother Valley piece, a disused band stand at Rosehill Park has been transformed into a vibrant outdoor art gallery, while an immersive art walkway with hanging tree trinkets has been installed at Kimberworth Park.

Jeff Clark, founder and creative director of AOP, added: “Rotherham’s children and young people had a lot of input into what these pieces of land art should be in their borough. We held various workshops to get them talking about different themes and playing with colour and shapes, which informed the brief for our artists.

“The result is some amazing pieces of collaborative land art for all to enjoy around Rotherham. We overcame various challenges during installation including gale force winds, freezing temperatures, snow and ice, but we’re over the moon with the end results! The overarching designs are all very different with their own individual flavour, but include common themes of geometric shapes, hopeful images of nature and the Children’s Capital of Culture striking black and yellow colour palette.”

Cllr. David Sheppard, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Social Inclusion and Neighbourhood Working at Rotherham Council, said: “We’re kicking off a huge year of creativity and colour in Rotherham with these fantastic pieces of land art taking over our parks and green spaces. They are part of a jam-packed programme of events and activities designed by our young people for our festival year, which we hope everyone enjoys and gets involved with.”

Aston Youth Group helped design the ‘You’re Not From New York, You’re from Rov’rum’ installation at Rother Valley Country Park. Neurodivergent young adults from Kimberworth Park Community Partnership helped bring the installation for Kimberworth Park to life, while eight- and nine-year-olds from Rawmarsh Ashwood Primary School informed the concept for the interactive bandstand at Rosehill Park.