Twenty-six wolves are to become the hunted in Bury St Edmunds, with a new art trail officially launched at The Apex last night.

%image(15431244, type="article-full", alt="Trudi Edmunds and her Archant wolf made by her Innipooh art and craft workshop young artists including Emily Golding, 10, Eva Lawrence, 10, Emily Jones,11, and Jessie Bream, 10")

Visitors can now track down the public sculptures, which are being spread out across Bury’s historic centre over the next ten days.

The varied creations, all made by 18 local artists and sponsored by businesses, range from The EADT and Mercury sculpture, bearing a coat of newspaper fur, to those made from willow or even milk cartons.

The project is a joint venture between the Business Improvement District OurBuryStEdmunds, St Edmundsbury Borough, Bury Town and Suffolk County Council.

It has been over a year in the making and organisers hope it will bring extra visitors in to the town and showcase local artists to a new audience.

%image(15431245, type="article-full", alt="Artist Jon Messum shows his stained glass artwork to Suffolk High Sheriff Judith Shallow, Mark Cordell and Melanie Lesser")

Mark Cordell, OurBuryStEdmunds chief executive, said: “It is a fantastic collaboration between artists, the three councils and businesses.

“The artists have really delivered, all of the wolves have been finished on time, they are all different and diverse.

“I have had my reservations at times, but standing here now and looking at the wolves, it is a great success.”

He said the Wolf Trail aims to promote Bury as a place to go and visit, showing that there is always something different on offer in the town.

%image(15431247, type="article-full", alt="Heidi McEvoy-Swift with her embroidered "wolf whistle"")

The wolf was chosen due to Bury’s historic ties to the legend of St Edmund the Martyr, 9th Century King of East Anglia.

He was killed by a heathen army of Danish Vikings in 869, who, legend has it, shot him with an arrow and then beheaded him after he refused to denounce Christianity.

His head was thrown into the forest, but followers of Edmund found it intact after a wolf called out “here, here, here”.

He was then buried, along with his head, in Bury – giving his name to the historic town.

The woman behind two of the wolves, including Eddy The EADT wolf, is Trudi Edmunds.

She said: “I had to, I am Trudi Edmunds, from Bury St Edmunds, creating wolves from the legend of St Edmund, in Bury St Edmunds.”

Eddy the wolf is created from a plastic bottle frame and is designed in collaboration with children at her art club.

She said: “The newspaper fur, you can see the headlines from local papers and people will be able to go, ‘oh I remember when that happened’. It is a community inspired project.”

Her other wolf is made from a welded steel frame, chicken wire and wood – all “found objects” picked up by Ms Edmunds.

Those wishing to take part in the trail, which will run until November 20, can download a trail pack from www.ourburystedmunds.co.uk/wolftrail. Nine wolves are still available for sponsorship.

If you find 10 or more of the wolves, who will all have individual plaque numbers, you can stand a chance of winning a £100 shopping spree in Bury.