iris bertz - birmingham, uk

thanks to iris bertz for her pictures, taken in and around birmingham's jewellery quarter.

http://irisbertz.blogspot.com

lester kong - stoke-on-trent, uk 3

thanks to lester kong for this entry from stoke-on-trent

bin night, my back alley

sophie gibson - liverpool, uk

sophie gibson is the first of the new era " urban beauticians" to submit images, a personal insight into her liverpool.

the magnet is placed "on a back door of my old uni"

on a side street wall

"part of the wall we queued against numerous times to see amazing bands at the Liverpool Barfly"

what you get when you apply

hey - so when you apply, you'll receive this postcard along with the "there is beauty in the city" magnet, which obviously is designed to stick to metal, but can also be blu-tacked, sellotaped, glued or simply propped to/against any surface within your frame of beauty. just email your name and address to thereisbeautyinthecity@yahoo.co.uk and i'll get a pack sent asap.

we're back - bigger, bolder and more beautiful than ever

hey everyone - where have we been? well...after some months of financial headaches, trauma and despair(!!!) the "there is beauty in the city" project is back, and promising to be more beautiful than ever.

a quick recap...

It is a very simple idea - on the walk I have my camera and my magnets, which say 'THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE CITY' and that is precisely what I am looking for, and I know it when I see it. The only specification for placing the magnets is a metal surface - so as long as there is something to be noticed and a metal surface I can make my intervention - placing the magnet.

The project originates from Stoke-on-Trent, England, by the artist Anna Francis. It is a simple idea, and anyone can join in - so be sure to invite your friends to join: all you need to do is get your hands on one of the magnets, then you go into the city (it doesn't matter which City) and identify areas of the city that you think are beautiful, then simply photograph your magnet in situ, and send the photo in to thereisbeautyinthecity@yahoo.co.uk (Please save the image as a jpg - no more than 2mb).

Come and join in - we look forward to seeing your ideas of beauty!

The original magnet size is 90mm X 52mm - so you can resize this one if you want to or just print it out from here. Join the search for beauty - place your sign, then take a photograph of it - you can email me the results, with your name and where the photograph was taken, and I will add it here.

All submissions will be displayed here on the blog, but we are also investigating other exhibiting possibilities, so watch this space for more news, as well as images of urban beauty.

You can get your magnet by emailing your address to the administrator Glen Stoker at thereisbeautyinthecity@yahoo.co.uk and he will send you one; alternatively, you can download the template from the blog and print out your own 'There is Beauty' Sign: improvise on ways to display it: ideas so far have included taping it to a paintbrush, or using blu tak to stick it somewhere.

colleen bowen - london, uk

Artist Colleen has been out and about with her magnet. Go to her blog to see her other projects.
Here's what she had to say:
"I've been walking round for the last few weeks with a little magnet. You have to find something to stick the magnet to when you uncover your beauteous treasure and snap it.
Old favourites appeared. I looked out of my bedroom window at a Hawksmoor Church for years (before the recent prettifying by English Heritage) so no surprise perhaps that the shabbiness of St Alfege's in Greenwich should attract the magnet.
The delicate elegance of the legs of one of the donkeys posing on Blackheath probably captured my imagination because of London Fashion week. Or maybe the fact that I have always fancied an alternative career as the owner of a fleet of donkeys on a sandy beach.
There's homage too to John's mission to beautify schools across the borough, the detritus from plane trees notwithstanding, with his dry gardens.
And just one of thousands of modest little gardens, this one tucked away at the foot of a block of flats near the Regents Canal, hemmed in by a rusty fence and filled with lovely green hellebores.
There's plenty more beauty in the city. The problem now is I've lost my magnet .'

theo wood - bristol, uk

Theo Wood has sent in his beautiful offerings. Theo said he really enjoyed thinking about where to put the magnet and came up with these:

1 Cobourg Rd door - this is a door down the road from where I live - just with the glimpse through at the top and all the differnt textures around it.

2 Mina Park pissoir - this is a renovated Victorian pissoir in the local park in St Werburghs - loved the greeness of it - and the complicated patterns!

jamila walker - craven arms/church stretton, uk

Photographer Jamila Walker has been out and about with her magnet and camera.

"I took the magnet to Craven Arms, which I previously thought was a horrid town, but discovered a fantastic museum, 'Land of the lost content' and a great vintage clothes shop as well as the Iron hut (featured in the photos).

The other photographs are from a cafe in Church Stretton, they do wonderful Spanish hot chocolate. This cafe was one of the first places my boyfriend and I went when we got some wheels."

daron stoker - chiang mai, thailand

The first magnet to get over the ocean to Asia! Daron Stoker has sent in his beauty spot in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Fantastic!

caroline twidle - immingham, uk

Artist Caroline Twidle (co-curator of Cut-Click) has been out and about with her magnet.
Her beauty spot is a park which she visited as a child.

felicity ford - reading, uk 2

Felicity Ford has sent in another fantastic image - it seems the snow is providing new images of beauty, and helping to underline that which may usually be overlooked.

anna hindocha - london, uk

This is a really beautiful submission from photographer Anna Hindocha. Click Here to go to her blog and see the photographs from her forthcoming book 'The People's City.'
Anna says: "The photo is taken in Loughborough Junction, London.
It is generally thought to be quite an unbeautiful place but I have always
loved the effect of these lights, and in this week's snow it was even more
beautiful."

felicity ford - reading, uk 1

Artist Felicity Ford has sent in her images of beauty from around Reading. Felicity has included 'There Is Beauty In the City' project in her exhibition and event 'Love Is Awesome' which opens on Valentines Day in Reading. Click Here to go to her site for more info on the exhibition and an interesting critique of this project. Here are Felicity's Awesome beauty spots.1. The swans live on the canal which I walk along to reach town. They have a tendency to flock in large numbers and I find the sound of them splashing in the water and the spectacle of them jostling one another very beautiful. Sometimes they float gracefully - like a flotilla of swans - down the canal. At other points they appear to bicker and squabble and bother one another. I love to see them.
2. These pipes sound amazing. Also near the canal I am not certain what happens in the pipes, but I am always intrigued by the gentle sounds emanating from them. So this image really I suppose relates more to sonic beauty or interest than visual beauty.

3. This painting is near the cattle market and old abattoir of Reading. For 3 and a half years of driving to visit my partner in Reading, I would always glimpse the striking cow painting from the ring road, and eventually a few months ago I went along specifically to photograph it. I think this painting is beautiful and I love how it relates to the history and context of its location.

helen dearnley - lincoln, uk

Helen Dearnley aka Blackbird has sent in her beauty spot - it is the bench at the top of Steep Hill in Lincoln, with a great message.
A lovely place to sit and feel good.

kate rowe - stoke-on-trent

So, the first set of Beauty in the City photographs of 2009 have come in! They are from Kate Rowe, and are actually from Stoke-on-Trent. Kate has also sent in the reasons why she has chosen her various beauty spots.

"The Railway Station is my favourite place of underestimated beauty in Stoke-on-Trent. It is not merely a beautiful, solid, red bricked facade, but a building that palpably exudes feelings of collective (nervous) excitement and keen anticipation.

It is such an anachronistically civilised and comforting place - even at its Hen/Stag party worst!

All is possible as you wait at the platform, just around the corner, coming at you at high speed (late?). There are arrivals of friends/family/strangers and film-like, tearful goodbyes. You are never rendered quite do distraught saying goodbye to someone leaving by car! Oh, the romance! You see, it is less a building (which has barely altered through generations of family visits) and almost entirely the atmosphere.

A disparate collection of people sat waiting, feet twitching to leave/return, are afforded a rare chance to think - the chance to escape! There is nothing to do but wait, read a little and accept someone else's timetable for a while. It is an artificial world, a gateway, a place of limbo between cities, between lives.

Stations can be the coldest, most brutal places to sit, I admit. The wind slices through them and a maudlin, comforting melancholy often cuts the blood in your veins. Sat under a high, domed roof, in a little holding pen of hushed voices, suppressed emotions and averted gazes; waiting and hoping: what a comfortingly British experience!"

So I have sent off for the Global 'There is Beauty' postcards, and some more magnets and now just waiting for them to arrive.
So far requests have been coming in from a number of people in London, Derby and even Darwin, Australia...but so far we only have photographic proof from Stoke-on-Trent, Manchester and Prague. We have however received word of one magnet, making a trip by barge from Lincoln to Bath; and has so far been seen in Nottingham, Oxford and Banbury...we await photographic documentation with excitement...

THERE IS BEAUTY IN THE CITY GOES GLOBAL!!!

We have received news that the 'There is Beauty' magnets have found there way across the sea to Europe, and this seems like a great chance to open out the project, and GO GLOBAL!
The people of Stoke-on-Trent and all those involved in the project were so positive about the experience that it seems a shame not to open the project up, and see the response from Cities worldwide.
I will therefore be setting up a Facebook group, which anyone will be able to join in order to provide information and a chance to copy the Magnet template, or send in for one of the magnet packs.
You can click on the magnet template above, and then print it off yourself: the orignial magnet is 3.5inches X 2 inches.
Watch this space for more developments...
The facebook group is now open: and called There is Beauty in the City. Sign up now!

wayne thexton - stoke-on-trent

Artist Wayne Thexton has joined the project! And here are Wayne's beauty spots in the city...

Poppies and Chives

Feeder

Umbrella Lines.

Wood.

Wayne is currently working on some fantastic projects of his own around the city - RISK sees him working with other artists and some pupils from James Brindley school in Tunstall. Read more about the project on the blog.

Unicorn - stoke-on-trent

Yes, there really is beauty in the unicorn - and a fine pint of ale too...
I happened to see one of the magnets on the till in one of Hanley's oldest pubs. The Unicorn is well worth a visit if you are in Hanley, it is on Piccadilly - slap bang in the middle of the cultural quarter. Great atmosphere, friendly barstaff and they have a great collection of Royal Doulton toby jugs hanging from the ceiling - a true potters pub!

michael callan - stoke-on-trent 4

Yes, some more images from Michael Callan, who has been wandering the city with his new camera. He has provided descriptions for why he finds each particular spots special.
Library Limestone: The staircase in The Central Library, Hanley, is finished in polished Crinoidal Limestone. These creatures, related to star fish and sea urchins but resembling some corals, lived in shallow tropical seas up to 350 million years ago. Ancient building materials for a modern building.
Fountains: Hanley Park from Avenue Road

Number 1 Adventure Place: Ever since I could read I’ve coveted this address. Wouldn’t it be wild to say you lived here?

Pagoda? : The Potteries Centre Car Park

FOREST PARK:
This area once composed of three large spoil heaps (yes three) from Hanley Deep Pit dominated the view from several of my childhood homes. 'The Hollies' were composed of predominantly black shale with some red shale and littered with burning tarred rope ends (don’t know why) which children were told were weird smoky snakes that would eat through your feet if you strayed onto the slopes. When the Aberfan disaster happened they became even more grim and brooding. Below are illustrations of the contrast between that past and this present.

Birches Head: View from the top of the Forest Park with Birches Head in the foreground and Eaton Park in the background. The reverse of the view from my teenage bedroom window.

Etruria and Hartshill: The low part of the forest park in the foreground then Hanley Etruria and Hartshill. Concealed in the haze Keele which can be seen on clear days.

Tunstall: The view of Tunstall from the top.

Skate Plaza: Now I know where to find my son at any time during the weekend.

Moorhens 1 & 2: On The Forest Park Lake which prior to regeneration was an area of gullies and pools where local children would trespass and go dipping for newts and frogs. (Sorry Mum)

Steel Tree: The new approach to the Forest Park.

Steel and Real: See above.

Steel and Real 2: ditto

Thanks so much to Mike for his absolutely fantastic response to the project.