A flock of 50 five-foot tall sculptures of Shaun The Sheep has descended on the streets of London for the 'Shaun In The City' art trail.
High profile artists, designers and celebrities have designed and decorated the sculptures which will stand at iconic London landmarks, attractions and locations throughout the Capital for the next eight weeks including Covent Garden, Trafalgar Square, Carnaby Street, St Paul's Cathedral, Chinatown, The View from The Shard and The Tower of London.
The giant versions of the popular character are set to be dotted around London until Monday 25th May to form a special arts trail, 'Shaun In The City' that will benefit thousands of children in hospitals around the UK. The sculptures, which have been designed by high profile artists, designers and celebrities including David Gandy, Zandra Rhodes and Cath Kidston, will be auctioned later this year.
The charity behind the project, Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity, organised the 'Gromit Unleashed' trail featuring the classic Aardman character around Bristol in 2013, which raised over £2.3 million for Bristol Children's Hospital. Building on this success, its two 'Shaun In The City' art trails during 2015 will see 50 Shaun the Sheep in London from 28th March to 25th May and 70 different sculptures installed across Bristol from 6th July to 31st August.
The official app to support the trail, Shaun In The City: Sheep Spotter enables everyone to enjoy a fully interactive experience as they search for all 50 Shauns around the capital. The app, priced £1.49 is available on IOS and Android and reached number 1 in the App store chart, within 24 hours of its launch. Proceeds from purchases of the app will raise money for Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity, which supports sick children in hospitals across the UK.
Those wanting to catch a glimpse of the sheep can find them everywhere from the bustling Covent Garden, to the historic site of Trafalgar Square, the shopping extravaganza of Carnaby Street, the world's famous St Paul's Cathedral, the View from the Shard - the tallest free-standing building in Europe - and the famous Tower of London.
Companies throughout the UK have sponsored the individual sculptures and following both trails, all 120 'Shauns' will be brought together for two exhibitions in London and Bristol, before being sold at a public auction in October.
The money raised from the sale of the London sculptures, will go towards Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity, which supports sick children in hospitals throughout the UK, and the sale of the Bristol sculptures will support The Grand Appeal, the Bristol Children's Hospital charity.
Director of Wallace & Gromit's Children's Charity, Nicola Masters said: “After an incredibly successful trail of 'Gromit' sculptures across Bristol in 2013, which raised £2.3 million for the charity at auction, we wanted to bring our next project to the capital.
"Shaun The Sheep is a timeless creation with real international appeal. He is loved in the Far and Middle East almost as much as here in the UK so to host this trail in one of the most international cities in the world made perfect sense."
Creator of Shaun The Sheep, Nick Park CBE said: “It's been a busy year for Shaun, he has just launched his first movie and now he has his very own arts trail! Shaun is such a well-loved character with so many fans around the globe, I am sure many will flock to London to be part of the fun.”
