This is a sponsored article on behalf of Wembley Park.
Brand new public artworks have been unveiled in west London, adding to the 17 pieces already included in the free and popular Wembley Park art trail. Football photos, original phone boxes, and enchanting digital screens all feature in the latest additions, giving you another reason to visit Wembley Park this summer. Here's the lowdown on the new pieces:
Football Should Be Unforgettable
Wembley is the home of English football, so it's the perfect spot for the Alzheimer's Society's free outdoor photography exhibition, Football Should Be Unforgettable, which you'll find in Market Square. Large-scale, illuminated photographs of English football stars Jack Grealish, Harry Maguire and Luke Shaw form the centrepiece of the exhibition, accompanied by childhood photographs of the players, and reflections from each on their earliest memories of the Beautiful Game.
The exhibition raises awareness of, and money for, Alzheimer's Society's work. Images of people who have been supported by the charity, many of whom are living with dementia, feature in the display too, along with items or photographs connected to their most precious memory of the game.
Why here, and why now? Wembley Stadium — of which Alzheimer’s Society is a charity partner — recently became the UK’s first dementia-friendly national stadium. That means that staff have had bespoke training to help anyone who may find match days too busy, too loud, or too overwhelming, as well as better information on ticketing receipts and improvements to the Wembley Stadium website to increase the visibility of services such as lifts.
Messenger
Elsewhere, artist and poet Claire Luxton debuts an expansive new artwork across Wembley Park's public spaces. Messenger makes use of different media, and is inspired by Hermes, the divine messenger in Greek mythology who carried dreams, impulses and messages. Wings feature heavily in the work, symbolic of possibility and aspiration.
Head to the Spanish Steps to see a striking and colourful triptych display against the backdrop of Wembley Stadium, featuring clusters of wings morphing and evolving together in an optical illusion of colour and depth. You can walk up and down the artwork to immerse yourself within. Next, swing by Arena Square, where Luxton has made use of three original K6 red telephone boxes, with wing designs reverse printed onto vinyl in yellow, blue, and green.
Olympic Way, and White Horse Square, meanwhile, boast 360-degree digital screens, with further screens along Bobby Moore Bridge, featuring animated versions of both the Spanish Steps and telephone box installations, allowing Wembley Park visitors to completely surround themselves with the artworks.
The Wembley Park art trail is completely free and open to everyone. It now consists of 21 pieces across a number of mediums, including paints, digital mixed media and upcycled materials, and Football Should Be Unforgettable and Messenger are both available to view now. It's recommended you allow 30 minutes to one hour to complete the trail, with plenty of parks, cafes, and restaurants to visit along the way or afterwards.
