Mr Smith's Dream
Introduction
The photograph on this page of Mr Smith's Dream by Gerald England as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Mr Smith's Dream
Image: © Gerald England Taken: 26 Aug 2022
Built into the actual brickwork of what is now the Manchester Craft & Design Centre on Copperas Street, this tiny bit of art is called "Mr Smith's Dream" and was created by ceramicist Liz Scrine after being commissioned by Manchester City Council. The title refers to a fella who ran a famous pet shop on the street for many years, just one of the numerous pet shops which once dotted the streets of the Northern Quarter. Nearby Tib Street was home to stores selling everything from goldfish to monkeys for more than 70 years. The artwork is therefore inspired by this long tradition of pet shops, and is based on a fictional dream that Mr Smith had one night, "to be followed by other fictional dreams had by the animals in his shop – such as the parrot's dream, and the sardine's nightmare." For more information see Manchester's Finest: https://www.manchestersfinest.com/arts-and-culture/mr-smiths-dream-the-northern-quarters-tiny-artistic-gem-hiding-in-plain-sight/
Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0
Image Location
Latitude
53.484424
Longitude
-2.235951