LONDON, ENGLAND.-People in the North East are set to get free works of art from award-winning artists in the form of a new series of travel wallets. The eight wallets, ideal for metro passes, rail cards and bus season tickets, have been designed by writers, dancers, musicians and curators, who were invited to respond creatively to the chance to place art in this public, everyday context.

One of the wallets is designed by one of our most famous living artists, Tracey Emin. Other designs include one featuring headphones by music producer Ty, and another by award-winning author Jeanette Winterson.

The travel wallets are part of Arts Council England’s Art in Your Hand project, making art available on everyday objects, to mark our sixtieth anniversary. It follows on from a successful collaboration with Sainsbury’s for specially commissioned reusable shopping bags. The artist-designed travel wallets will be distributed at travel interchanges nationwide.

A card inside the travel wallets will encourage people to join the Arts Council’s arts debate, and think about what the arts mean to them. The arts debate will shape the future of public spending on the arts and is an opportunity for everyone to have their say by visiting the website on www.artsdebate.co.uk

‘We work to get more art to more people in more places and we wanted to celebrate our 60th anniversary by bringing art into people’s everyday lives,’ says Mark Robinson, Executive Director of Arts Council England, North East. ‘The travel wallets mean people can enjoy their own provocative and engaging artworks while on the move. We hope the wallets will encourage people to think about the value of the arts in their everyday lives, and let us know their opinions by getting involved in the arts debate.’

Participating artist Tim Etchells says: ‘I loved the idea of making a work that would go directly into people's hands – something that people could look at again and again and which would set their own thoughts racing in lots of different directions. The piece I've created is a set of stories told through simple lists of characters, locations and objects. Each one is an invitation for the reader to imagine. I guess that's a great thing to do on a journey but its also at the very heart of art.’

This program has been curated and produced for Arts Council England by General Public Agency. Some of the artists have responded to the commission by addressing the theme of travel, while others have approached the project more broadly with a collection of artworks that address topical issues including identity, the significance of stories, environmentalism and the rural.