Street Stories Art Trail

Augmented Reality Experience

In the early 21st century, the high street as we know it is facing a multi-layered crisis. What’s going to happen to all of these empty storefronts? Shops are closing so we need to find a way of making the city centre more of a destination.

It’s a tough question, and one that Street Stories sets out to answer. Developed in the minds of the Arch Creative team, Street Stories is a packaged initiative to bring art, culture, colour, life and beauty back to city streets. We take those abandoned or neglected shopfronts and work with local artists and creators to reimagine the past, present, and future of the city.

The artwork displayed through Street Stories has a technological edge. Every piece is infused with Augmented Reality tech, so viewers can point a phone camera at them and learn more or see them move, or a whole range of other multi-sensory, AR-based effects. The artwork is bringing life back to the city and, with a bit of tech, you can bring the artwork to life.

We partnered with digital agency Graff.io Arts to develop the AR features, creating a dedicated Street Stories app where curious citizens can view immersive animations.

Leicester’s BID for glory

The original Street Stories came from a BID Leicester initiative called Empty Units. Leicester City centre had several vacant lots, and Arch won a pitch to fill those lots. Our solution was Street Stories, a platform which raises the profile of local artists, whilst at the same time celebrating the heritage of the city, and highlighting the achievements of pioneering people from Leicester.

“Our concept was to create an interactive street museum and highlight some important and less well known stories to new audiences. We’ve also been able to give a platform to a diverse range of artists spanning a spectrum of styles and mediums, resulting in an exciting art trail across the city centre, with something for everyone.”

Joe Nixon
Arch Creative Director

In Leicester, Street Stories explores some powerful themes including human rights, the environment, consumerism and identity, with topics ranging from Sir David Attenborough and endangered birds, to DNA fingerprinting, the LGBTQ+ movement and the suffragettes.

Existing artworks are reimagined and turned into living pieces of art, whilst others have been especially commissioned for the project. We also worked with local young people’s charity Soft Touch Arts, giving them a stage for their own exhibition, as well as De Montfort University’s Fashion and Textile course who incorporated Street Stories into a project for their students.

The Next Step

We saw too much potential in Street Stories Leicester to keep it to the one city. Now, Street Stories is a full-package initiative that BIDs and city councils can use to beautify their streets, promote local heroes and give up-and-coming artists a platform. We’ve carried out projects as far a frilled as Stirling in Scotland, and are now rolling out Street Stories to towns and cities up and down the country.

There are tons of benefits to Street Stories. Besides adding beauty to the city centre, the project can:

  • Repackage and restart your city’s tourism industry
  • Engage local creative communities, driving more projects and more support for the arts
  • Support local design agencies
  • Encourage safe footfall by creating an art trail
  • Promote the next bits of your town or city
  • Highlight commercial spaces and show their benefits to potential tenants.

If you like what you’re reading – why not get involved?! Street Stories is designed to work for any UK town or city – so if you want your streets sprucing and your artists boosting, check out street-stories.co.uk and then give us a call!

Make your city beautiful. Get in touch to start your own Street Story.

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