Representatives from more than 30 local businesses attended an Artist Selection Event at Ipeco on Thursday 28th November to choose which designs will be brought to life and grace the streets of Southend-on-Sea and Leigh-on-Sea in the summer of 2025.

The designs were shortlisted after receiving nearly 350   impressive submissions made by local and national artists, all keen to be a part of the spectacular art trail. Styles ranged from illustrations, mosaics, graphics and abstracts.

Vanessa Harvey, Project Manager for Havens Hospices, says, “We have been overwhelmed with the quality and variety of entries received from the artists, and proud to have many of our shortlisted designs come from the local community.

“It’s great to see everyone coming together to raise money for Havens Hospices and to start seeing the project come to life.”

The sponsors and partners previewed all the shortlisted submissions and had the difficult decision of choosing their top three favourite designs.

Sarah Nash from Ipeco, the Presenting Partner of Waddle-on-Sea and kind hosts for the event, said, “We were delighted to host the art selection event for Waddle-on-Sea. It was fantastic to see some familiar faces from the previous trial and meet new sponsors too. We all had the very difficult task of selecting which designs to shortlist as there were so many truly wonderful and creative ideas.”

Artists will be contacted over the coming weeks to let them know whether they have been chosen to be a part of the art trail and what sponsor or partner they have been matched with.

Sarah Harvey, Trail Director, Wild in Art, says, “It’s so important for businesses to be a part of the trail because they are at the heart of the community. It’s been lovely to meet everyone. There’s such a joyous feeling in the room, and everyone is excited for next summer.”

Waddle-on-Sea – created by Havens Hospices and Wild in Art – will see 30 large penguin sculptures and some very special baby penguins dotted around the city, including Leigh-on-Sea, each sponsored by a local business and painted by a professional artist in varying styles.

Alongside these will be ‘mini huddles’ of baby penguins, adopted and decorated by a school or community group, making art accessible to all.

At the end of the trail, the penguins will be sold at auction, raising money for Havens Hospices. This follows the success of the charity’s ‘Hares About Town’ trail in 2021 and Herd In The City in 2023, which have raised more than £1 million for local hospice care.

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Published on 6th December 2024