The deadline for submissions was early January and the Wild at Heart team received over 275 potential owl designs. Artists are gradually being confirmed for the project and most recently Stourbridge graffiti artist, Lee Woods has been commissioned to design an owl. Lee exploded into the world of graffiti and took on the persona Mac1 in the early 1990’s.

Lee has created a powerful, gritty inspired circular design on a 165cm tall owl statue and at the centre is an all-encompassing and incredibly powerful eye, something he describes as ‘the corridor to knowledge’.

The Big Hoot is going to be a fantastic celebration of art and I’m thrilled to be a part of it. The coming together of artists across a breadth of different disciplines is really refreshing and will create a really exciting trail for the city. Lee

You can find out more about the project here and we will keep you up to date when more artists are confirmed.

Crisis Skylight is the education scheme of the homelessness charity Crisis. Working in hostels & community spaces it engages with the homeless using arts classes & creative courses. The results of some of this work is currently being exhibited at St. Martin’s Church.

Running from the 4th to the 30th August the exhibition includes photography, sculpture, painting & drawing.

Breakin’ Out

Described as a “celebration of urban culture” Breakin’ Out is taking place at mac on Wednesdays throughout August. Using the hashtag #NextGen it’s trying to discover the “Next Generation of Bboys, Bgirls, Rappers, MCs, DJs, Street Artists + Film-makers”.

There’s a mixture of workshops for ages 13 to 19 (street art & graffiti, Streetdance/Breakin’, making music tracks or music videos), events (music & spoken word, Love to Jam) and pop-up performances. Follow them on Twitter and Facebook

Brindleyplace outdoor films

The programme for the first Brindleyplace film festival has been announced. For 2 weeks from Monday 13th of August there will be a daily free screening of some classic movies and family films starting at 6 on weekday evenings, with two films shown at 11 and 2 on Saturday and Sundays.

The full programme can be found at Brindleyplace films and includes Back to the Future, Mamma Mia!, Ghostbusters, Kung Fu Panda, Back to the Future Part II, Grease, Happy Feet, Ice Age, Shrek, and E.T: The Extra-Terrestrial.

Sandwell Arts Festival

Between the 6th and 18th August the third Sandwell Arts Festival has a focus on participation. It takes place throughout Oldbury, Smethwick, Wednesbury and West Bromwich with a wide variety of activities across the borough. The climax of the festival will be a procession through West Bromwich high street on Saturday 18th August.

The festival organisers include Multistory, Black Country Touring, The Public, Sandwell Third Age Arts and Sandwell Primary Care Trust.