Wienerberger inspires children with 16,000 bricks donation

Wienerberger, the UK’s leading provider of building material solutions, has donated 16,000 clay bricks to Hull’s 151 nursery schools as part of an exciting project to get children involved in Hull UK City of Culture 2017.

The children have sculpted a Wienerberger brick as part of the project which will then be dried and fired to create an art installation for the city centre later this year.

Children across Hull aged 0 – 5 have sculpted their clay bricks as part of an Early Years project for the City of Culture 2017 called ‘The Sixteen Thousand’, with this representing the 16,000 0-5 year olds in the city. Now sculpted, the bricks will be dried and fired at Wienerberger’s roof tile factory in Broomfleet and will be used for a final installation which will be situated in Hull city centre and displayed between Monday 2nd October – Sunday 5th November.

Ian Read, Head of Learning and Participation at Hull UK City of Culture 2017, commented: “We are delighted that Wienerberger has been part of this project, helping us facilitate a fantastic opportunity to inspire the youngest people in the city. It has allowed the children’s imaginations to run wild, be involved in a piece of culture for Hull and hopefully has inspired a lifetime’s love of arts."

Ian Martinson, master clay carver at Wienerberger added: “Clay is the oldest artistic material and has been used for centuries to create both practical and aesthetic pieces. It has been a pleasure encouraging the children to work with these materials in this way from such an early age, allowing them to express themselves to celebrate the City of Culture in Hull. We can’t wait to see the final art installation.”