This should be my final post on the subject of penguins. We really enjoyed our involvement with the Go Penguin project. It was great to sponsor our own penguin, Splashy, which was created by Julie Dodd after we ran a design competition. Splashy brightened up the otherwise dull area by the suitcase sculpture on Hope Street for 10 weeks and we were sad to see her leave. We hope she’s gone to a good home after being sold for £1600 at the auction.

It was also great to see so many artists being commissioned, taking part so enthusiastically and producing some cool designs beautifully painted.

Via liverpool.gov.uk…

Penguin boost for charity

Liverpool’s beloved penguins have finally waddled away from the city, leaving behind a £40,000 legacy for charity and delighting 4,000 people at the penguin preview at St George’s Hall.

Visitor figures have also just been released for the event, revealing over 500,000 people followed the penguin trail over the seven weeks.

People from all over took part in the auction, which will now see the penguins showcasing the North West’s artists from Edinburgh to London.

Sally Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art said: “Go Penguins has been simply incredible – from the thousands of people who loved, hugged and photographed the penguins and the 45,000 schoolchildren who took part, to our successful bidders who will now be able to enjoy these beautiful works of art for many years to come.

”We are indebted to the people of the region for the way the event has been received and supported and are proud to be part of the legacy the event will leave behind.”

People came from as far away as Dublin to see the penguins one last time at St George’s. The comments book from the preview was brimming with praise for the event:

“What a fantastic display of art that brings everyone together. Well done Go Penguins”

“I only wish they could have stayed longer.”

“An excellent creative medium to highlight the quality of talent in our city.”

“Truly magnificent – exquisite!”

Go Penguins was originally a commission by Liverpool City Council as the finale to their Year of the Environment and acted as the key event to the Winter’s Trail programme with messages  about climate change playing a key part in the event.

The nominated charities for the penguin auction are:

The Liverpool Lord Mayors Appeal charities which are:
Alder Hey Imagine Appeal
Radio City’s Cash for Kids
Henshaw’s Society for Blind People
Global Hope
Liverpool Retired Carters’  Working Horse Monument Fund
Other charities who will benefit include:
WWF – UK
Liverpool Unites

Quite sad today to see Splashy the penguin we sponsored for the last time (maybe), we hope she goes to a good home. I’m sure some of those purchased will go back on public display in some venues but many will be in people’s own homes. The important thing is that they all get sold and raise lots of cash for the Lord Mayor’s Charity.

All 63 lots are on display in St George’s Hall until 20.00 tonight. The online auction is open now, you can register and place a bid. The bids for each lot start to close from noon on Friday 5 Feb and you can watch the progess on the website – it could get quite exciting as last minute bids start to appear.

Farewell Splashy

Bid on your favourite penguin from anywhere in the world… 3 – 5 February 2010

I struggled at first to digest all the data but I hope I’m correcting in saying…
– You can register now if you intend to bid on any penguins (obviously only serious bidders should register – you need to provide id etc.)
- You can, of course see all 63 lots online now and they will be on public view at St George’s Hall on 3/4 Feb.
- The online auction starts at 09.00 on Wed 3 Feb so you can start placing bids.
- On Friday 5 Feb from 12 noon the bids close at 2 minute intervals, so Lot 1 closes at 12.02, Lot 2 at 12.04 etc. until they’re all gone around 14.00.

Hope that’s clear (and correct).

More details…

An unmissable opportunity for you to pick up your very own beautiful penguin created by many of the North West’s leading artists and have a permanent memento to enjoy for years to come. 63 of our beautifully crafted and popular penguins take the starring role in an exciting online auction, raising significant funds for charities including the Liverpool Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal and WWF, leaving a permanent legacy.

The online auction will start at 9am on Wednesday 3 February and will close every 2 minutes in lot order from 12noon on Friday 5 February. And if you’ve used an internet auction site such as ebay, you’ll find our online system a simple and convenient way to bid. The full list of 63 penguins going to auction including 3 new commissions, along with guide prices starting at £1100, can be viewed here or download the auction catalogue here.

The auction will also include Lee O’Brien’s ‘Doddy’ penguin; the winning entry of the major Liverpool ECHO competition to find ‘The People’s Penguin’. Thanks to Sutton Kersh, one of the North West’s top property auction houses, bidding is easy but make sure you register in plenty of time to bid by visiting www.gopenguins.co.uk

So the live auction event at St George’s Hall is not happening but there will be a chance for people to view them there and bid online.

Go Penguins auction to go global following ‘People’s Preview’

•    Go Penguins auction to go global on the internet
•    People’s Preview announced due to public demand
•    Another chance to see penguins following extreme weather

Wild in Art, the organisation behind Go Penguins  has announced that the penguin auction will now be opened up to the world via the internet , rather than taking place at St George’s Hall – allowing bidders to pick up their favourite penguin from anywhere in the world.

This move will maximise the potential for the nominated charities to benefit from the public art extravaganza that wowed the public for seven weeks over the festive period.

To mark this new and innovative move, Wild in Art are also delighted to announce that due to public demand, the penguins will again go on public view for one last time at St George’s Hall on 3 and 4 February 2010, so the general public can say their final goodbyes to the much loved waddle before they head for their new homes.

The ‘People’s Preview’ is a special bonus for anyone who may have missed out on visiting the trail as a result of the extreme weather conditions. The Go Penguins website has been inundated with messages from people left disappointed at not getting to visit the trail as planned and requesting one more chance to see the penguins.  There will also be a registration desk at the preview event, manned by the official auction house for the event, Sutton Kersh, where people will be able to register and place bids on any of the penguins.

Sally Ann Wilkinson, Director of Wild in Art said: “We’re really excited about the internet auction – we felt that having received great international media coverage, and a high number of absentee bidder enquiries, to maximise the full potential for the charities we had to find an alternative way of opening up the auction to everyone .We wanted to allow people from anywhere in the world to bid in real time if they wanted to, rather than restrict them to bidding by telephone or proxy. This way, everyone benefits, none more-so than the charities,”

All 67 penguins will now be up for grabs to anyone in the world, intensifying the competition and creating great scope for exciting bidding wars. Feedback from the 30 Superlambananas sold via an internet auction in 2008 showed that there was great potential for a full internet auction for Go Penguins. With more snow forecast for the end of January and beginning of February, the internet option will ensure that the fundraiser does not fall victim to the weather.

The preview will take place on Wednesday 3 February 8.30am-8.00pm and Thursday 4 February 8.30am-8.00pm.  Those attending will also be able to enter a prize-draw for a dream weekend in the city in aid of the nominated charities.

www.gopenguins.co.uk

Splashy

UPDATE: There will not, after all, be a live auction in St George’s Hall. This has been replaced by an online only auction. Please see full details here

Exclusive opportunity to pick up your favourite penguin!

Go Penguins Charity Auction, St Georges Hall, Liverpool, 4 February 2010

After the huge success of Go Penguins , Merseyside’s newest and most-loved art sensations will take a starring  role at a charity auction at St George’s Hall on 4 February.

This is  an unmissable opportunity for you to purchase your very own beautiful piece of penguin art created by many of the North West’s leading artists and have a permanent memento to enjoy for years to come.

Approximately 70 Penguins will go under the hammer, with money raised giving the Liverpool Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal (including Cash For Kids and Alder Hey Imagine Appeal) WWF, Liverpool Unites and ME Research UK a significant boost to help them continue their invaluable work.

BUT TICKETS (£20) ARE SELLING FAST – visit www.gopenguins.co.uk or email  auction@gopenguins.co.uk now for details on how you can grab your unique piece of penguin art before they waddle away!

We have donated our ArtInLiverpool.com penguin Splashy to the Go Penguins auction. Why not join with us in supporting the nominated charities by bidding on the  ArtInLiverpool penguin?

Just one weekend left before penguin pals come in from the cold

As Arctic temperatures hit the streets of Merseyside, our penguins are feeling right at home. But with just one weekend left before Go Penguins draws to a close, the North West’s newest art sensations are preparing to leave the streets this Sunday 10 January 2010 to prepare for auction.

And as a special extra treat for penguin lovers, Phil Redmond’s intrepid explorer Patrick is to make an exclusive appearance at World Museum, Liverpool for the next two weeks.

Never seen on the streets before, trail fans will be able to add Patrick to their list of favourite penguins. Readers of the ECHO have enjoyed regular stories and features about Patrick’s adventures as he made his way to Liverpool from the Antarctic to spread the word about climate change and to visit his artistic siblings.

The Go Penguins event has been a huge success, with thousands of people braving the wintry weather to visit the trail which winds its way all over Liverpool City Centre, as well as the smaller colonies on the Wirral and St Helens.

www.gopenguins.co.uk

ArtInLiverpool has some lovely Go Penguins merchandise to give away.
We have three packs of goodies each containing the Coffee Table Book, Souvenir Guide, 2010 Calendar and a Colouring Book.

Deadline: Midnight on Sunday 27 December 2009.

(For full details of Go Penguins and available merchandise see www.gopenguins.co.uk)

Seems its too cold even for penguins, well one penguin anyway. The Feathered Fashionista penguin (beautifully painted by Amanda Oliphant) is used to a comfortable life and was spotted checking in to the new Hilton Hotel before enjoying some seafood ramen at Wagamama. Then it was off to the Odeon for an exclusive screening of March of the Penguins.

You can see all the Go Penguins in our gallery and more info including lots of merchandise on the Go Penguins website

Home Bargains and Go Penguins have boosted Liverpool Lord Mayor’s Charity Appeal by an astonishing £20,000 – just weeks into the public art extravaganza and months before its gala auction is due to take place.

The profits were generated by the sale of miniature paint-your-own penguin sets which were sold in Home Bargains stores across the country to raise money for the Charity Appeal.

The penguin art sets literally ‘flew off’ the shelves and have now completely sold out within a month of going on sale.

Joe Morris, Operations Director at Home Bargains, said: “The paint-your-own penguin competition was a great way to raise money for charity while giving our customers the chance to play an active part in the Go Penguins project. They were a massive hit with our customers; we could have easily sold two or three times the amount we ordered.”

A specially designed mini penguin representing the £20,000 donation will be handed over to Liverpool’s Lord Mayor  in Liverpool Town Hall.

Tickets will be going on sale on 5 January for the gala Go Penguins Charity Auction, to be held on 4 February 2010. The auction is expected to net an even bigger windfall for the Lord Mayor’s charities along with WWF, the world’s leading conservation body.

Home Bargains has also sponsored the hugely ambitious Go Penguins schools initiative, the biggest schools art project in the UK this year. More than half of the city’s schools have been involved – meaning a staggering 45,000  schoolchildren have engaged with the project while learning about climate change.

The discounter has additionally sponsored three street-sized penguins (Nos 8 Global Warning by Ines Dearman at Liverpool Arena, 121 Around the World in Many Ways and 16 Martyoshka by Joanne Risley at Albert Dock) which are currently delighting the visitors and residents of Merseyside, along with their other 144 siblings and 13 special schools’ colonies until 10 January 2010.

Originally commissioned by Liverpool City Council as the finale to their Year of the Environment, Go Penguins is being delivered by Wild In Art, the people who wowed the Capital of Culture year with the hugely successful Go  Superlambananas.

For more information about Go Penguins visit www.gopenguins.co.uk or www.homebargains.co.uk

Liverpool artwork of the week 2009-47. ‘Splashy’ Go-Penguin by Julie Dodd for artinliverpool.com. Hope Street, Liverpool. 22 November 2009 – 10 January 2010.

When the go-penguins were first announced artinliverpool.com held a competition for artists to submit designs for our own special go-penguin. The competition was won by Julie Dodd and the penguin is now happily situated on Hope Street at the top of Mount Street. This is an ideal place for us as it is very close to our home, its outsdie the former Liverpool Art College and up the road from LIPA which was my old school (when it was the Institute Grammar School).

Download a blank splashy (1.4mb)

You can download a blank version of splashy (1.4mb) to colour in if you wish.

Splashy the Penguin

The artist has focused her design upon the art in Liverpool. The city has a strong, diverse artistic presence and Liverpool is lucky to have many outlets for its art to be seen and enjoyed, with its galleries, museum, public art and community art.  Splashy represents a celebration of Liverpool art with its differently shaped and coloured splashes.  But what do the colours mean to you? Colours are associated with emotion, memories, places and can help to set a mood. The splashes have been designed to resemble real splashes but with more a powerful visual impact and each splash has been painted onto the penguin to produce a strong, fun image.

Julie graduated this year from Wirral Metropolitan College witha first class honours degree in fine art. Her work is generally based upon repetition and she develops ideas so they grow into something else, often creating multiples of a design to mimic life, growth, regeneration etc. www.juliedodd.co.uk

Full details of go-penguins here: www.gopenguins.co.uk

You can see photos of them all in our go-penguins gallery

Artist Julie Dodd with Splashy