Revolutionary Red Tape explores a series of projects initiated by independent or state-funded organisations designed to bring ‘art to the people’ in modern Britain.
Students at Hull College of Arts and Crafts, ‘Decorations in a British Restaurant at Hull’.
I’m particularly interested in projects designed to ‘bring the arts into everyday life’ in unexpected places, including village halls, restaurants, hospitals, schools, factories, parks, high streets, pubs and the home.
Case studies include:
A New Mecca - Temple of Peace, Cardiff
- Performances in village halls by the Arts League of Service Travelling Theatre
- Posters commissioned by the Empire Marketing Board and General Post Office
- Public buildings and memorials, including the Welsh National Temple of Peace and Health]
- Lunchtime concerts given by ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) and CEMA (Council for the Encouragement of Music and the Arts) in munitions factories during WWII
- Murals for British Restaurants commissioned by the Ministry of Food and executed by members of the Artists International Association (AIA)
- Hospital print schemes overseen by the British Red Cross
- The AIA and Arts Council’s ‘Sculpture in the Home’ exhibitions
- Murals and sculptures commissioned by Hertfordshire Local Education Authority for primary and secondary schools
- Popular magazines and book series on the arts published by Penguin and Faber and Faber
- Arts broadcasts (films and radio) on the BBC
A selection of these case studies (and any others I find along the way) will be published in the project book, Art for the People, and in journal articles. I’ll also be exploring some of these examples in my project blog.