News: Rotherham's Shop of Priceless Things

Visual text artist, John Clarke, and art & design expert, Adrian Riley have created "The Shop of Priceless Things" in Rotherham town centre.

The artwork at the former Burger King unit forms part of Rotherham Borough Council's "Meanwhile Project," led by its Town Centre Management Team, which aims to bring life and footfall back to the town centre by improving the look of vacant units throughout the town centre.

John Clarke explained the concept for the piece: "Imagine a window covered in text of the kind you see advertising different brands. Only in this instance, the text would not be fashion logos but about something that cannot be bought or sold – like a memory, or a family saying, or the scent of wood smoke, wild blackberries, the sound of rain in a gutter...”

The "priceless things" were all donated by Rotherham shoppers providing vital inspiration for the project.

The council's Cabinet Member for Economic Development, Planning and Transportation, Cllr Gerald Smith, said: "It's great to see so many different approaches being taken to improve the look of these buildings whilst they remain empty.

"Long term of course we want to encourage investors with the business grants we have on offer to open them up again as shops, but for now it is gratifying to see such individual skill and flair going into temporarily improving the look of the vacant shops."

Rotherham town centre website
Electric Angel website
Rotherham

Images: electricangel.co.uk