14.10.2021
Mondriram outside Vaillant’s Customer Experience Centre, Belper © Vaillant
Following the huge success of the Derby Ram Trail this summer, Derby Museums – the trail’s principal organiser – is pleased to share news about 15 of the rams, which have remained in the public realm for people to enjoy.
The Derby Ram Trail was a spectacular free discovery trail, featuring 30 unique ram sculptures that brightened the streets of Derby between 27th May and 25th August this year. It was brought to the city by Derby Museums, in partnership with Wild in Art, and attracted over tens of thousands of visitors during its three-month run, including Derbyshire locals and international tourists.
The 30 rams comprising the trail were auctioned off in September by Charles Hanson, raising an impressive £300,000 towards Derby Museums’ Endowment Fund and helping to secure the future of our heritage.
The rams have now travelled to their new homes across the country – the ram rambling the furthest now overlooks the town of Prestatyn in north Wales!
The legacy of the trail continues, and Derby Museums is pleased to extend this by further developing the Derby Ram Trail app with local company, Bloc Digital. The company has freely donated its expertise and time to design, develop and produce the app, which is available to download for free on mobile devices.
Although the trail has finished, by the end of October when the app has been updated, visitors will still be able to navigate it using the app to locate 3D virtual images of the rams in their original positions.
Bloc Digital Director, Keith Cox, said: “We are delighted to keep the creativity and community spirit of the Derby Ram Trail alive by harnessing digital and immersive technology in this legacy app. Visitors can continue to experience that sense of quest as they explore the city and interact with the virtual rams along the way. The app also brings the trail close to home – once the rams have been unlocked, visitors can take these Augmented Reality sculptures home to place in their own rooms or gardens.”
Tony Butler, Executive Director of Derby Museums, said: “It is a fantastic to hear that 15 of the rams will stay on public display as a legacy to the project and we are thrilled that Ram Trail sponsor, Bloc Digital, have continued their support with the development of the app, enabling visitors to continue to enjoy a virtual version of the trail.
We would like to thank all of our sponsors, artists and visitors for their commitment to making the trail such a fantastic success after such a difficult time during the pandemic, and for everyone who supported us so generously, helping to raise an incredible sum for Derby Museums’ Endowment Fund.”
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