Rosie's Plaques On Tour!

There are more than 4500 heritage plaques in the UK. Less than 12% of them celebrate the lives, achievements and spaces of women. It’s a bloody outrage. 

We have a vision that summer 2020 will see alternative blue plaques appearing all over the UK. 

We will support women’s groups, history groups, WIs and groups of mates to research the forgotten women in their villages, towns and cities and to create beautiful handmade plaques to remember and celebrate them.

We know this works because we’ve done it in Norwich. In May we staged a guerrilla art project. Under cover of darkness, and dressed as Rosie the Riveter, we carefully erected alternative blue plaques on significant buildings in the city. Then we waited to see what would happen.

The project quickly went viral. We were featured on local TV, radio and press. Then the story went national we were  in the BBC history magazine, the Guardian and The Financial Times. Within a week we had more than 2000 followers on twitter 

The plaques were so popular that we made badges of them and sold them online. We raised over £3100 pounds for a local women’s aid charity 

We won this year’s People’s Choice Norfolk Arts Award.

Now tens of thousands of people knew about some of the women of Norwich whom history has forgotten or erased. 

Very quickly people from all over the country were getting in touch and asking if we would make plaques for their town or city. And so the idea for Rosie’s Plaques on Tour was born.

How will it work?

Our plaques are all handmade and hand painted. They are works of art. In our experience people love them because of this and they are also a real pleasure to research and to make. 

Now we want to help others to make their own Rosie’s Plaques. 

Any group in the UK will be able to get in touch with us if they want to stage their own guerrilla plaque project. We will send them a ‘toolkit’ with tips and advice on how and where to research women and spaces, ideas on wording etc. When they are ready to make their plaques we will take our mobile studio/ workshop (the Plaque Shack) to them. We will provide all the materials and equipment needed to make their own plaques and we will help them to do it over the course of two days.

When we leave they will be free to put up the plaques in their own locations.

We need your help to make it happen.

£4000 will take Rosie’s Plaques on Tour.

How will we spend the money?

Rosie’s Plaques on Tour will be a free service, we won’t charge any individuals or groups. Too often money is a barrier to making art or protesting for change.

£750 will be used to write, design and print research toolkits

£2250 will be used to purchase, convert and equip a caravan into a mobile studio – the Plaque Shack

£1000 will be used for materials, petrol and expenses.

If we exceed our target we will be able to visit more places and make more plaques.

We are offering some lovely rewards

£10 will get you our love and gratitude 

£20 will get you our love and gratitude, your name on our Plaque Shack and your choice of badge from the collection

£50 will get you our love and gratitude, your name on our Plaque Shack and a special limited edition Rosie’s Plaques T shirt (Profane and Opinionated)

£500 will get you our love and gratitude, your name on our Plaque Shack, a full set of badges, a T shirt and your very own handmade plaque (wording of your choice).