THE LIVERPOOL CITYSCAPE
Season of FREE events and activities

The Walker Art Gallery is putting one of the highlights of Liverpool’s 2008 Capital of Culture year under the spotlight once again. The Liverpool Cityscape by Ben Johnson is the inspiration behind a season of events, arranged in partnership with the University of Liverpool, to explore the city and the stories of its inhabitants.

The Liverpool Cityscape caught the imagination of the city during 2008. From Johnson’s first day as an artist in residence at the Walker Art Gallery he held a captive audience who were fascinated by the multi-layered and intricate techniques he employed. Between February and March 2008 alone, over 45,000 people came to see Ben work in his specially created studio. They watched the painting reach completion and a real sense of involvement was struck between the artist and his audience.

Reflecting this relationship the Walker Art Gallery is inviting people to participate in busy a programme of walks, talks and lectures that consider historical and geographical issues inspired by painting:

We Love Liverpool
9 December 2009
1 – 4pm
Drop-in and share your memories, views and opinions of Liverpool past and present.  All of the comments will be recorded to form a living history of Liverpool.
Audience: All
Booking: FREE, drop-in, no ticket required

Study day
25 November 2009
10.30 – 2pm
This short study day examines Ben Johnson’s The Liverpool Cityscape and its relationship to the city. Its historical context will be explored along with specific architectural sites and buildings portrayed in the painting.
Audience: Adults
Booking: Collect a FREE ticket from the Walker information desk or call 0151 478 4178

Liverpool: The Shaping of a World Class City
8 December 2009
1 – 2pm
In an entertaining, informed, and anecdotal style; expert local historian, author and broadcaster (and passionate Scouser) Ken Pye, uses Ben Johnson’s The Liverpool Cityscape to discover how Liverpool came to exist through the good times and the bad!
Audience: All
Booking: Collect a FREE ticket from the Walker information desk or call 0151 478 4178

Re-presenting Liverpool: City, image and identity
14 December 2009
1 – 2pm
Like the people that live in them, the identities of cities are constantly evolving. But with this sometimes rapid transformation of a city’s fabric and function, can one image ever truly represent a city?
Using  Ben Johnson’s The Liverpool Cityscape as a focus point, this discussion will draw on examples of contemporary art and popular culture to explore how the identities of cities like Liverpool are currently being formed and reinvented through cityscapes and street-level images.
Audience: Adults
Booking: Collect a FREE ticket from the Walker information desk or call 0151 478 4178

Cityscape badges
21 & 22 November 2009
1 – 4pm
Liverpool is renowned for its wonderful architecture. So whether you’re a fan of the Liver Building, Radio City Tower or the city skyline as a whole, there’s certainly lots to inspire you to create the perfect cityscape badge.
Audience: Over 5s
Booking: FREE, drop-in, no ticket required