Birmingham’s Public Art – West Midlands, United Kingdom

EXPERIENCE:

Birmingham has amazing public art and we explore what you can see on the city centre streets. Conducted by Jonathan Berg, author and photographer of the book Birmingham’s Public Art. Jonathan’s tours are fun, educational, memorable and inclusive and you can expect to be entertained. We public art works by major artists on the world stage with the walk including key city squares and destinations.

We start at St Martin’s Church at the bottom of the Bullring shopping centre. The walk includes key aspects of Birmingham’s Public Art. This includes everything from monumental works from Georgian and Victorian life right through to the most modern sculpture. We also get to appreciate the role of street art and graffiti in today’s city and see some of the best known names of the street scene’s work.
After leaving St Martin’s Church the tour heads for Hippodrome Square. We see both formal sculptural public art and also significant street art.
In Grand Central we get to appreciate Ozzy the Bull, certainly a major piece of public art on the world stage. We move on through the city centre and discover the birthplace of Sir Edward Burne-Jones, a second wave Pre-Raphaelite and the best know artist of the mid-Victorian era.
We explore the work of Birmingham’s very own William Bloye which is all around us, especially if we look up. Heading to St Philip’s Cathedral Square and Colmore Row we experience what many consider to be the finest artistic church stained glass in the world in Birmingham Cathedral.
Heading through Victoria and Chamberlain Square we experience a mix of public art from the Victorian era mixed in with contemporary works from artists such as Dhruva Mistry and Antony Gormley. We finish in Centenary Square, where again we see historic works alongside the works of William Bloye and Gillian Wearing.
The tour ends close to the Library of Birmingham, which is usually open to visit. The Exchange in Centenary Square is a great venue for a refreshments and a light lunch.

TOUR HIGHLIGHTS:

Explore the city with a local author and photographer
Understand the public art of Birmingham
Meet an expert with a sense of humour!
See key pieces of public art and their relationship to Birmingham

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