Look up, Rotherham might surprise you

Walking around a town centre, it’s rare that you take the time to look up.
A reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott MerryleesA reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott Merrylees
A reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott Merrylees

But a project in Rotherham is seeing works of art placed on the high storeys of buildings to give people a different perspective on art, and their town itself.

The re-branding of Rotherham as ‘Gallery Town’, the UK’s largest open air gallery in a town, has seen more than 100 reproductions of famous art, and original pieces by local artists and students, placed around the town centre over the last two years.

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This week sees 25 new pieces added, including a reproduction of Johannes Vermeer’s The Girl with a Pearl Earring on the side of the town’s oldest building, The Three Cranes, and Edvard Munch’s Scream above a takeaway on High Street.

A reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott MerryleesA reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott Merrylees
A reporoduction of Claude's Seaport with the Embarkation of the Queen of Sheba , in situ above The Corn Law Rhymer pub in Rotherham town centre . Picture Scott Merrylees

The UK’s most published artist, wildlife painter Pollyanna Pickering, was at the launch of the new pieces this week. One of her pieces, of a tiger swimming, has been placed at the town’s bus station.

Project manager Ged Omar said: “We’re looking to regenerate the area by creating vibrancy by putting these artworks on the walls. If you’re a shopper, or an office worker, you’re exposed to the artwork. You don’t have to go to a gallery to see them.”

The locations of the pieces are varied, and for visitors to the town, start at the railway station, where they are met with a sign saying ‘Welcome to Gallery Town’.

Mr Omar added: “The idea is to get inside people’s heads and change their perception of Rotherham as a place.”

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