This extraordinary terraced house is a few minutes from mine and it’s decorated with the original paining of David Parr; a working-class Victorian decorative artist who worked for the Cambridge firm, F R Leach & Sons.

David Parr learnt his many skills there, painting houses and churches with designs created by some of the best architects and designers in the country, including George Frederick Bodley, William Morris and Charles Eamer Kempe.

Brief

In 2017 the charity was awarded a second set of funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). The David Parr House was one of only eleven organisations in the country to be awarded this investment which will enable an endowment to be raised to secure the long-term future of the David Parr House. £500,000 is being raised, which will be match-funded, pound for pound, by the Heritage Lottery Fund until 2022, creating an endowment fund to support a curator for the house.

The Cambridge Art Fair is a major local event that attracts visitors who are interested in investing in art. The David Parr House were given space at the event and the stand had to make an impact. It also had to be in keeping with the period of the house and whatever was created could be reused.

What Hello Lovely did.

The exhibition space was decorated with images printed on fabric that were temporary attached to the premade stand. The images were of David Parr’s work in the house taken from an archive of work from local photographers. Each panel had a different wall so the stand visitor had the impression of walking into the house. The stand was decorated with items from the house, and a period plant stand and a tool box were used for leaflets and cards. An MDF and plastic free zone!

Around the fair, artists easels supported posters about the house, printed onto Corex board for durability.

Tasks: selecting and creating fabric exhibition panels from professional photographs of the house interior and editing in Photoshop and supplying to the company. Designing A0 boards which were placed on easels and postcards for keepsakes and to encourage donations towards securing the future of the house.

Software: Indesign, Illustrator and Photoshop.

The result

The charity has now appointed a curator and the house is open to the public through organised tours. Sufficient funds have enabled the neighbouring house to be developed into a visitors centres.

The material from the exhibition and the boards are used in other events to raise awareness. The fabric panels are also put to work in memory loss workshops and events with schools.