‘Crunch!’ was the culmination of an exciting shop window participatory arts project that began in June 2009. Over 100 participants worked with Viz co-creator Simon Donald and playwright Lee Mattinson to produce their own responses to the credit crunch. Participants ranged from local school children aged 13 to a retired pensioner aged 67, proving that art can be accessible to everyone. The results were amazingly varied, with cartoons from several of the participants as well as from Simon and Chris Donald, and script produced by the volunteers and edited by Lee Mattinson.

The works were installed in all available shop windows at the old Boots store in Monument Mall. ‘Crunch!’ came in the 30th anniversary year of Viz Comic and what better way to celebrate local talent which has been such a phenomenal success and an inspiration to many budding illustrators and cartoonists.

‘The Crunch!’ was launched on the 17th December 2009 at Monument by Simon and Chris Donald, Lee Mattinson, and representatives from NE1, the Arts Council, and The Sponsors Club for Arts and Business along with our volunteers.