Joining in the fun!

Almost 100 artists signed up with us, keen to transform one of our pig sculptures into a work of art. They are profiled on the list below (note this is a 2Mb pdf file which takes a while to download). An amazing collection of talent, versatility and creativity.

See our artists

We welcomed the involvement of artists in all art forms and looked not only for painters but ceramicists, textile designers, illustrators, photographers, graphic designers and sculptors. Between them they decorated over 100 life-sized model pigs which were displayed on pavements, in parks and in and around buildings throughout the summer of 2008 to celebrate the myth of the founding of Bath by King Bladud.

Each pig was sponsored, and sponsor and artist jointly decided what the pig was to look like, and gave it a name.

There was no direct remuneration for decorating the pigs but the artists were credited on a small plaque on each pig and received generous publicity in the press, on TV and on our website as well as on the pig trail map we printed 10,000 copies of, and on the poster and in the book we sold 1,000 of (now all gone).

The display period ended in September, and on 31st October 70 of the pigs were sold in a great gala auction at the Bath Assembly Rooms. Another 35 were sold in an online auction. One was raffled. None were left! Prices ranged from £1250 to £21,500. Artists received 25% of the price achieved at auction.

If you are interested to know what the rules were and what advice we gave to the artists before they started work, click to see our "Notes to artists" here.

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