The Classics: Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland

Project Details

The Classics was a strategic Kent Libraries pilot produced by Lyrici Arts, featuring a programme of 37 events within 15 North Kent. The themed accessible events included library led and professional creative community workshops, a touring ballet with accompanying ballet workshops, a large community arts installation and character facepainting. Staff received industry level continued professional development training at every point of delivery.

The Classics project will run from February to May 2019, with 15 North Kent libraries exploring and celebrating a famous children’s classic – Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Themed Alice community days will take place across March 2019 in three of the main North Kent library locations, Gravesend, Dartford and Faversham. Community events include five professional workshop sessions within the areas of tactile arts, mask decorating, and art and design by Kent based award winning workshop facilitators; face painting, a family friendly Alice in Wonderland touring ballet with photo opportunities and optional dance workshops and an exciting interactive Mad Hatters Tea Party installation finale. The interactive installation is complete with carefully crafted life-sized animal characters from the story, tea and plenty of cakes! Come along to Faversham Library on the 30th March to see four life sized character models of The White Rabbit, The March Hare, The Cheshire Cat and The Dormouse.

In May experience a selection of staff led craft activities taking place in smaller selected district libraries, and pop along to Faversham to visit the installation and embrace all things Alice!

All of The Classic events are ticketed in 2019 and booking in advance is required. British Sign Language supported events are available and all workshops are fully accessible. To purchase tickets or for more information on access supported events please visit www.lyriciarts.com

“ We are very excited to be hosting a programme of artistic events in our libraries. Delivered by our partners, Lyrici Arts, and featuring local professional artists, the events will be themed on the well-loved classic book Alice in Wonderland, which we hope will engage and delight our customers of all ages.”
— Matthew Kerr – Kent County Council’s Service Manager for Dartford Gravesham and Swale Libraries Registration & Archives

“We are very grateful to receive this project funding from Arts Council England and we are pleased to be working with Kent Libraries to deliver their first Arts Council library project of this kind in the North Kent Area. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll is a book that is one of the most popular and most widely quoted and translated children’s books ever written; and which marked the birth of modern children’s literature in 1865. We chose to focus on this book as it allows the community to explore the story of Alice through many varied artforms, enabling everyone to celebrate and experience high quality arts in the safe, familiar, accessible environments of Kent library buildings. We are delighted and excited to deliver this programme of work alongside Kent Libraries, where stories and storytelling is already ingrained into their buildings.”
— Clara Augustus – Lyrici Arts

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