Arts group teams up with Hoxton community to make gardens out of disused bath tubs

An arts organisation is showing how one man’s rubbish and can be another man’s treasure in a project transforming disused bathtubs into garden pots across Hoxton.

Peer, an independent arts group, has teamed up with the community to rejuvenate 12 tubs that were bound for the dump.

Each has been rebranded with new artwork developed in tandem with their adopters and artist Olivia Mathurin. They were then infilled with soil and plants, such as ox-eye daisies and poppies, with the aim of inspiring homeowners to think of innovative ways to recycle their homewares.

Passers-by can see the pots from today at North and South Arden Estate, Shoreditch Library, New City College, Hundred Years Gallery, Hoxton Hall, and St Monica's Primary School.

The Adopt a Tub project started in April, with tubs recovered from a skip in Peer's carpark in Hoxton Street.

A spokesperson said: "The idea started to brew, especially considering a lot of local people live in residential blocks with little access to gardens or green spaces; the idea was that they would have their own little garden in a bath."

The project was backed by Hoxton Trust, Arts Council England, Hackney Council and Grow Wild Kew Gardens Community Fund.

For a map of the tubs see peeruk.org/adopt-a-tub.