Why Papergirl?

One of my highlights of 2011 was being involved in organising Papergirl Cardiff. With planning for this year's event well under way I have been thinking back to what inspired me to do it in the first place and felt there was no better place to share those thoughts than here!

I came across an article about the Berlin chapter in the excellent Boneshaker magazine and was immediately taken in. It was off the wall, it  was exciting, it was inclusive. It looked like great fun! I was searching for a way of promoting cycling here in the city that had a wider appeal than than the normal sponsored rides and commuter challenges (yawn!) and decided this was it. The thing that really appealed to me was that here was a cycling event which wasn't aimed specifically at cyclists. The cycling part actually ended up being quite a small part of the whole event, but no less successful for that.

The whole process of organising the event was a joy and I felt privileged to have been involved.  A couple of things stood out for me really. The generosity of people in giving up their time and energy to create artwork for us to exhibit and give away was amazing. Time is precious, we all know that living in today's society. The fact that people had decided that creating something which could then be randomly given to someone else, was worth spending time on, made me very happy.  The ride itself was a great afternoon. A more diverse group of cyclists would be hard to find, and that was one of the wonderful things about it. No roadie/fixie/commuter/eco tribalism here, just a bunch of people on bikes. Doing something for no other reason than it was fun to do. So different from my normal cycling experience. The recipients of the art were funny too, ranging from very grateful to totally confused!

Submissions for Papergirl Cardiff 2012 are open now!

Half Term Workshops!

Would you or your children like to submit some art for Papergirl Cardiff this year? Are you looking for an interesting and creative activity to do together this coming half term holiday? Why not come along to one of our printmaking workshops at The Printhaus.

Using professional quality screens, inks and materials, under the watchful eye of one of the Printhaus team, you will be able to create your very own, original prints. Taking place on Monday 13th February, Workshop 1 will run from 10am - 1pm. In this session we will concentrate on printing posters using professionally designed and made up screens, which you can then adapt and add to, to create a unique print.The price for this workshop is £2 per child. Workshop 2 will run from 2pm - 5pm and concentrate on printing onto T-Shirts and bags, using the same designs, which you can then take away with you. The price for this workshop is £5 per child. To book a place or if you need more information about the workshops, please contact Sophie  at The Printhaus by email sophie[at]theprinthaus[dot]org. We hope to see you there!

If you'd like any further information about this year's Papergirl Cardiff event please contact us via email, twitter or facebook, using the links on this page.

Special Delivery! Papergirl returns to Cardiff!

Following the success of Papergirl Cardiff in June we are very pleased to announce the return of Papergirl in 2012.

At the June event this year more than 300 pieces of artwork were distributed to surprised, bemused and delighted Cardiffians by a cavalcade of cyclists during an hour long cycle through the city.

 

In anticipation of next year’s event we are now asking people to start submitting their original artwork.  We hope that by putting the call out early it will give more people the opportunity to submit work, resulting in more people receiving free artwork and a bigger and longer cycling event.  All submitted artwork will be exhibited for a week before being packaged up and distributed by a team of volunteers.

 

If you would like to submit artwork for Papergirl Cardiff 2012, or are interested in getting involved please get in touch!

Artwork can be submitted to the Cycle Training Wales office, 8 Museum Place, Cardiff CF10 3BG, or posted to Papergirl Cardiff, 20 Howard St, Splott, Cardiff, CF24 2AX. 

Other drop off points will be added at later dates, so keep checking the blog for updates.

All images: Sophie Barras: www.sophiebarras.com

Papergirl Cardiff featured on Welsh TV programme Gofod!

We were very pleased to have an early interest taken in the PapergirlCDF project by the Welsh language programme Gofod, presented by Gethin Evans and Elen Gwynne, and currently airing on Tuesdays at 10pm on S4C.

The exhibition and ride were filmed, and contributing artist and cyclist Sara McGaughey was interviewed for the programme.

The programme featuring Papergirl Cardiff aired on Tuesday 12th July, but as of the date of this post, there are 25 days left to watch it!

Just visit S4/Clic Gofod to watch the programme! (The Papergirl piece is 14 mins 40 secs in - Episode 5).

Gofod Homepage