PRINT! is a new programme of seasonal art and graphic commissions that incorporate print to energise the town centre and reflect life in Nelson. 

To get us started, we have asked designer Ashleigh Armitage,  in collaboration with Laura Mansfield, to interpret and illustrate what's been happening so far this year through This Is Nelson. An insight into the process written by Ashleigh and Laura can be read below:
 

"Reflecting on 'Nelson Reimagined', which actively engaged diverse local residents and sought to gather individuals’ thoughts, input and reflections on what and how a sustainable Nelson might manifest. The design process began to centre upon a series of single words that could act as prompts or calls to action. These prompts embody something of the core of the Nelson Reimagined programme and its drive to encourage communities to embrace and take ownership of the public spaces of Nelson, as well as to imagine their future potential.

Coupled with undulating shapes and vibrant colours, the singular words invite passers-by to explore and reconsider their immediate surroundings. To look and look again at their everyday - to take pleasure in, question and reflect upon what they see. 

As a result, you might notice something you had not previously. 

Maybe you start a conversation. 

Maybe you see the potential for something unused to become active. 

Maybe you begin to value something you had regularly overlooked:

the shapes of windows, the details on brickwork, a disused bus stop, the circles in iron railings, the flooring of the bus station, the green shoots between paving stones. 

All of these are sites of future potential - spaces for conversation, community, growing and play.
 

The placement and location of the vinyls and posters has been considered in direct response to conversations held with Nelson residents and artist Michael Powell during which a number of locations were identified and a playful mapping of the town undertaken. The large visual displays on building windows come hand in hand with a series of small free-standing coloured signs which can act as a trail and alternative way to playfully navigate the familiar town centre." 

Take a look at the videos below to connect Ashleigh's designs to what's happened on our artist-led strand, Nelson Reimagined, so far. Below are the questions we are asking ourselves, and others, as we programme the upcoming year...