SUE STOKES: Turning the spotlight on our green spaces

We are lucky to have some beautiful green spaces on the edge of this very urban city, and the theme of our exhibition was keep pompey green.

This was the context for the #keeppompeygreen exhibition which brought together artworks from local people aged three to 93 to celebrate and turn the spotlight on our green spaces in this very, very populated city.

We asked for A4 prints, paintings or drawings of the green spaces and their inhabitants from all ages and abilities, and we were delighted with the response.

There were more than 100 entries, which included views of local landscapes – from angels in graveyards through to the seeds of the autumn trees from three-year-old Poppy.

We had images of trees and windswept marshlands at the edge of Eastney Marshes where the wildlife is captured daily, if you take a look at Keep Milton Green on Facebook.

With the help of the amazing Aspex gallery, we curated and attached prints to card, and with great pride covered the walls of Le Cafe Parisien.

We couldn’t wait for our artists and visitors to admire the beautiful and powerful work, and eat cake that had been specially-made by Kimberley to celebrate this green event.

Thanks to the Partnership Foundation for their community bursary to Keep Milton Green, to support this event and the development of their information leaflet so that people can continue to discover these spaces and the wildlife that lives there.

We’d like to thank Portsmouth lord mayor Councillor David Fuller, and his lady mayoress, and Portsmouth MPs Flick Drummond and Penny Mordaunt for ably picking their top 20 from the 80 plus pictures to frame and exhibit at Lakeside1000 in the coming new year

And we thank the grass on which we walk and the trees overhead which are a precious resource.

And everyone who came or who entered artworks.

Our passion for our city is reflected in the architecture, both built and growing.

Be part of this with Portsmouth in Bloom and in nurturing your patch of grass, or help us plant some trees, or notice when they are being chopped down.

Next Christmas, this exhibition will be repeated so save the date, and start making art, ready for our second exhibition of green space.

Use the hashtag #keeppompeygreen to keep sharing the images you take, make, or find on Twitter.