Big Fun Art Adventure – Frequently Asked Questions

The Big Fun Art Adventure is a free, sculpture trail through the streets, parks and open spaces of Haringey, lasting eight weeks, from 17^th August to 12^th October 2024.

It will feature painted owl sculptures; 30 big and 23 small, as we celebrate 40 years of hospice care in North London.

Because owls are known for their wisdom and kindness and for passing on stories through generations and across cultures. Hospice staff, like owls, also work through the night supporting patients and healthcare professionals, providing free end-of-life care.

Saturday 17 August to Sunday 13 October

The trail is completely free and can be enjoyed over and over again, throughout the summer of 2024. However, there are lots of ways you can support North London Hospice throughout the trail period and beyond such as making a donation or by buying merchandise.

We were blown away to receive over 100 incredible submissions from artists, many of whom are local to our community, to design one of our giant owl sculptures. Via a rigorous selection process, 60 designs were presented to our sponsors whereby 30 were commissioned. Since then, with our friends at The Mall in Wood Green kindly offering a big open space to paint in, our owls have slowly but surely been coming to life. Among the phenomenally talented bunch is a design from TV personality Matt Lucas and one from bestselling award-winning children’s book author and illustrator Rob Biddulph!

All the big owl sculptures are sponsored by different companies in the area, and the owlets have been paid for by different schools and community groups in the region or, a company has kindly sponsored an owlet for them.

The Big Fun Art Adventure is a full cost recovery project and it is thanks to our partners and sponsors that we are able to put the trail on.

The big owls are 1.6m tall and weigh approx. 45kg each.

The owlets are 95cm tall and weigh approx. 15kg each.

The big owl sculptures will be positioned across 11 square miles of Haringey, so you’ll be pleased to know that we’ve devised smaller, bite-sized trails too. Each playing host to between two and seven sculptures, the mini routes are located in Tottenham Hale, Tottenham, Alexandra Palace, Finsbury Park, Wood Green, Crouch End and Muswell Hill. Keep a look out in our four Haringey shops too, libraries and The Mall shopping centre, where our owlets will be roosting in small groups.

Locations can be found on the trail map, or on the trail app which is downloadable from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store from Aug 17 and via bigfunartadventure.org.

Please note these updates from those shown on the paper map:

1. Owl Totem is now located at Alexandra Palace Garden Centre and Cafe
2. Harmony Hoot is now located in The Mall Wood Green (the Pret/Boots entrance)
3. Park Life is being repaired and Nocturnals is in its place. It has been moved from the Lower Path at Alexandra Park to Alexandra Park, Alexandra Palace Way near The Grove Car Park and the Garden Centre
4. Owl Queen is being repaired and Captain Bluebeard is in its place on Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill

Because Haringey is a large area we have broken the trail down into mini trails that you can over a series of days if you wish. There isn’t a set route so you can do the trail in whichever order works for you. The mini trails are:

• Alexandra Palace and Muswell Hill
• Crouch End
• Finsbury Park
• Tottenham
• Tottenham Hale
• Wood Green

You can do the trail at your own pace and because it’s on for eight weeks there’s no rush. You can visit as much as you like! The mini trails have between 3 and 7 sculptures and there is between a 2 minute and 30 minute walk between sculptures.

Paper maps will be available at The Mall Wood Green (from the pop-up shop or Guest Services), Haringey libraries hosting owlets on the trail, and all North London Hospice shops from Friday 16 August.

You can also get the map from Shopify or use the digital version that’s on the app which you can download from Google and Apple (or via this website).

Please note these updates from those shown on the paper map:

1. Owl Totem is now located at Alexandra Palace Garden Centre and Cafe
2. Harmony Hoot is now located in The Mall Wood Green (the Pret/Boots entrance)
3. Park Life is being repaired and Nocturnals is in its place. It has been moved from the Lower Path at Alexandra Park to Alexandra Park, Alexandra Palace Way near The Grove Car Park and the Garden Centre
4. Owl Queen is being repaired and Captain Bluebeard is in its place on Fortis Green Road, Muswell Hill

Parking is available across the whole borough of Haringey. Visit the council’s web page for details of car parks and restrictions at https://new.haringey.gov.uk/parking

Absolutely! The sculptures are located near bus, tube and train routes and our trail map shows the train and tube stations.. For more help planning your route see https://tfl.gov.uk/ or https://citymapper.com/

It’s up to you how you complete the trail and walking between the mini trails is possible but doing all of them altogether would make for a long day!

https://footways.london/haringey is a great way to plan your route through the borough on foot. The map connects major places across the borough with welcoming, appealing and accessible streets and you can explore the area’s history and culture as you walk.

All of the sculpture locations are accessible for wheelchair and pushchair users.

Please report any issues to North London Hospice: 07970 665 619 or to email bigfunartadventure@northlondonhospice.co.uk or on our social media channels @BigFunArtAdventure or by tagging us at # BigFunArtAdventure

Where possible, please provide one or more of the following; Sculpture Name, Location No (both of these can be found on the plaque located on the plinth with each sculpture), or the location of the sculpture. Shop names or landmarks can be helpful.

From Saturday 26 October to Friday 1 November (half term for many schools) you will be able to see all of the owls in one indoor venue for one week only!

Found out more here:

https://northlondonhospice.myshopify.com/products/celebration-farewell-week-adult-tickets

The Big Fun Art Adventure event is a Wild in Art event brought to you by North London Hospice.

Wild in Art is the leading producer of spectacular public art events that entertain, enrich, inform and leave a lasting legacy. It brings together businesses and creative sectors with schools and local communities through the creation of uniquely painted sculptures.

Since 2008 Wild in Art has animated cities across the world including Manchester, Sydney, Auckland, Cape Town and São Paulo, and created trails for the London 2012 Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Historic Royal Palaces and Penguin Random House.

Wild in Art events have:

Enabled over £23.6m to be raised for charitable causes

Injected £3.8m into local creative communities

Engaged over 1 million young people in learning programmes

Helped millions of people of all ages to experience art in non-traditional settings

wildinart.co.uk | @wildinart | #wildinart

Visit our pop-up shop in The Mall shopping centre Mon-Thurs 11am-3pm. It will be on the ground floor near the main entrance. If it’s closed, you can also buy merchandise from the Guest Services Lounge on the first floor from 9.30am-5.30pm Mon-Sat and from 11am-5pm on Sundays.

Merchandise will also be available to buy from all North London Hospices charity shops. You can find all locations on our website here: https://northlondonhospice.org/shops/

You can also purchase our merchandise through our online shop https://northlondonhospice.myshopify.com/

Yes, the large owls will be sold at the charity auction on Thursday 7 November along with three very special owlets. The other owlets will not be available to buy and instead will return to their school or community group who decorated them, as a memento following the summer’s event.

Yes – the bidding process and all the details about the auction will be available nearer the time. We are asking those who would like to attend the event, or bid online, to register their interest via our website at https://bigfunartadventure.co.uk/auction

The auction will take place on Thursday 7 November. Following the trail, the sculptures will be refurbished by artists, bringing each of the sculptures back to excellent condition, before they go under the hammer.

The auction will take place on Thursday 7 November at the Emirates Stadium and online. To register your interest in bidding on an owl sculpture please click on the link below to complete a short form, and a team of the team will contact you.

Register your interest in the auction

To register your interest please complete the form here: https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=_aui6j47NEu_Ksr8qlmu_wtsOJfKYiNDlgjwcUtnlpRURTBXSUkxOTE4SDJJVzRSRzZRRkJQTjJYOS4u

Payment is due immediately after the sale. Payment can be made by Visa and MasterCard. Proof of ID will be required. Alternatively, we can issue an invoice for bank transfer and cheque payments (Live Auction bids ONLY). Sculptures will not be released until payment is received.

The auction is a fundraising event for North London Hospice. There will be no VAT added to the auction value of each sculpture. There is also no buyer’s premium.

The deadline for collecting your sculpture will be on your buyers’ invoice. A local delivery firm will be present at the event to make arrangements for delivery, should you wish.

The owls have been outside on the trail for 8 weeks. They are happy being inside or outside, but may require annual maintenance to keep the paintwork/finish in good condition.

The funds raised by the Big Fun Art Adventure will help to cover the cost of the care provided by North London Hospice to patients with serious, progressive illnesses, their loved ones, and bereaved people across North London. The hospice relies on the support of the community for the majority of its income, with only 30 per cent funded by the NHS.