North Canterbury artist Leah Ingram is one of 30 artists contributing to Ōtautahi-Christchurch’s most baa-rilliant art adventure early next year.

Shaun the Sheep Big Sheep Trail, supporting Big Brothers Big Sisters, will run for 10 weeks from mid-January 2027.

A total of 60 large and small Shaun the Sheep sculptures will transform the city’s streets, parks, and public spaces into a vibrant, free, open-air gallery in much the same way as Christchurch residents have seen before with Penguins and Elephants.

Shaun the sheep is a well-known character in the popular Wallace and Gromit animation series created by Aardman Animations.

Each of the 30 big Shaun’s will be `ewe-niquely’ brought to life by talented local artists and sponsored by local businesses, while Christchurch schools have been asked to paint 30 miniature versions of Shaun.

Leah’s large-scale Shaun the Sheep sculpture was delivered recently, and now she has the fun task of transforming him into a vibrant, colourful 1.5m high x 1.5m long sculpture.

“They called for artist submissions six months ago, and I was happy to be selected.”

Leah says she will draw on her passion for painting New Zealand native flora and fauna species at her artist’s studio, Fantail Illustrations, to give her inspiration for her version of Shaun the Sheep.

“I have till early December to complete him, and I plan to use New Zealand natives for inspiration.”

“Right now he’s dominating my garage, but when they create the Shaun the Sheep Big Sheep Trail in January 2027, my son and I are looking forward to discovering the trail around Christchurch.”