Birmingham artist collaboration aims to celebrate key workers.
2 Metres Closer is a new digital festival taking place from 23rd-25th July. The aim is to celebrate West Midlands key workers and community helpers through creative collaboration with local artists.
A group of Beatfreeks Southside Producers dreamed up the event not only to archive this historical moment, but to offer appreciation and a good laugh, doing something creative, to those who have been undervalued and overlooked. Uplifting the people who have worked to help others throughout lockdown remains important, more now than ever, as lockdown eases.
So, 2 Metres Closer partnered those people with a graffiti artist, a music producer, and a drag queen to deliver you some amazing pieces of art! You can check out their Instagram (@2metrescloser) or Facebook pages for more details, including introductions to the group of volunteers, who includes a bin man, a healthcare assistant, a life coach, and even the Director of Public Health for Birmingham City Council.
The three artists taking part are Panda, a Digbeth-based graffiti artist who started GraffitiArtist.com in 1998 through the Prince’s Trust, and who will be painting a large mural of the volunteer key workers; Justine, a music producer and Beatfreeks alumnus; and Yshee Black, a Brummie drag queen who has toured the country and runs her own local lip-sync competition.
The graffiti mural will be unveiled online on 23rd July in the evening, time TBC. The music piece will be released on 24th July at 6:30pm. And finally the drag performance will be released on 25th July at 7pm.