Ventnor is well known on the Isle of Wight (and beyond) as being a town that attracts the creative and artistic among us.
So it was little surprise to see some take advantage of the many small round blank canvases that have appeared on the town’s pavements in recent weeks.
Graham Middleton tweeted News OnTheWight with some of the pieces he’d spotted in Ventnor (see below), and we also came across this beautifully vibrant chalk drawing around one of the dots on Pier Street, as well as the much-loved Ventnor lizards in a few places.
This is what happens when the #IsleofWight council paint big white dots 2 metres apart all over the pavements in the town centre of Ventnor… #KeepVentnorWeird #arts #artists #COVID19 #Politics #media @onthewight pic.twitter.com/Glfue6JOxJ— Graham Middleton (@Trebormaharg) July 16, 2020
Reaching Ryde
However, Ventnor doesn’t have a monopoly on creativity on the Isle of Wight.
In Ryde this week, the Isle of Wight council gave permission for artists to share their talents as part of the High Street Heritage Action Zone (HSHAZ) project.
Artist Theresa Grimaldi (a Ventnornian) is working on the HSHAZ project and as you can see from the colourful pics and videos on the Instagram account they are having great fun in Ryde.
Warnings are ‘scaring off visitors’ claim
It certainly brightens up the flood of white social distance dots that Cllr Julie Jones Evans told this week’s council meeting were scaring off visitors to the towns.
Of course Ryde has sported the eponymous video game character, Pac Man, chomping away at the social distance dots on Union Street (maybe gone after the recent rain), but if you spot any other examples of artistic licence around the Island do let us know.
Article edit
9.55pm 17th July – headline image changed
