Oh, this is very exciting! With needles, thread and grand ambitions at their disposal, cross-stitchers of Cardiff have been plotting a super secret street art project that they plan to unleash at this year’s Made In Roath arts festival……

Whether you are cross stitch crazy, mad about the arts or just looking for something different at the Made In Roath week, look no further! All kinds of cross stitch lovers from the local community have been working hard behind-the-scenes to bring a new and exciting project to the streets called Crossing Paths.

The Crossing Paths team have been meeting regularly in secret, in order to create a series of giant cross stitch street art that will appear overnight just in time for Made In Roath Festival.

As Becca Clark at Green City Events explains:

“We had no idea that so many people wanted to create street art and it seems we have found a really accessible and unique medium – giant cross stitch! Plus, I think the secretive, guerrilla style group was a factor!”

Every piece has been made by a member of the community using different recycled materials such as t-shirts, tights, naturally dyed sheets and even old bicycle wheels. The aim of the project is to bring colour and art to the streets of Roath and Adamsdown using the resources within the community. It aims to create awareness of the beautiful community gardens in the area that can sadly be overlooked at times.

People from all different backgrounds and parts of Cardiff have joined forces and contributed their own personal pieces of art. Ten year-old Osian Allsopp explains why he wanted to get involved:

“I wanted to learn a new way of sewing and I had good fun experimenting. I can’t wait to tell people; I’ve been very good at keeping this a secret!”.

On Saturday 8th October, everyone involved in the project will come together to cross-stitch ‘bomb’ the Plasnewydd and Adamsdown community gardens and surrounding streets. There will be an array of designs that all relate to what you may find in a garden; plants, wildlife, garden tools and maybe even a Pokémon or two!

The guerilla stitchers tell us more:

How did the Crossing Paths project idea originally begin?

“After a trip to Valencia where the streets were just bursting with colourful art I thought it would be fun to brighten up our own streets back home. A couple of weeks and a sneaky Facebook group later we had gathered a group of keen cross stitchers to make our dreams a reality!” – Becca Clark, Green City Events.

What do you hope to achieve from this project?

“We hope that people stumble across our unique pieces of street art during Made in Roath and maybe see a part of their everyday surroundings in a new light. For those keen to see them all, you’ll find a map on the Green City Events website, you can follow the path of plants and wildlife and in turn discover three beautiful community gardens. We hope this is just the start of a new community project and that others are inspired to create random acts of art!”

What do the crossing paths team think of the giant cross stitch street art?

“The perception of cross-stitch needs to taken out of the parlour and onto the streets; nothing like a bit of subversiveness to challenge the every-day!” – Dorcas Frazer

“As a prolific stitcher, I was thrilled to be part of Crossing Paths. Not only was it a great opportunity to meet other Cardiff Creative types it was so much fun stitching up giant cross stitches” – Charlotte,Twin Made

Why will Crossing Paths be a great addition to the Made In Roath week?

“The made in roath festival is all about bringing art out into the community, be that in schools, on street corners, in community gardens, and anywhere else we can find. CDF Cross Stitchers & Green City Events have done just that, with the unexpected element of stumbling upon their work whilst we wander the streets we think we know so well. We can’t wait to discover what’s on our doorstep!”

MORE INFO – CROSSING PATHS STREET ART PROJECT

Dates:
On display from Sunday 9th October – Sunday 16th October

Locations:
Mackintosh Community Gardens – 38 Keppoch St, Cardiff CF24 3JW
Plasnewydd Community Gardens – 5 Shelley Walk, Cardiff CF24 3DX
Adamsdown Community Gardens – Moria Terrace, Adamsdown, CF24 0EJ
And the surrounding streets.

CROSS-STITCH ‘BOMB’

Date: Saturday 8th October 6.30pm

Location: Secret meeting place – please contact Becca at Green City events to get involved.