On December 5 2007, tribute was paid to the late Syd Barrett - former Cambridge School of Art student, music legend and founder of Pink Floyd - in an eventful performance, called City Wakes, at the Centre for St Paul's, a modern community facility close to the centre of Cambridge.

The sold-out performance was a multi-media arts project, produced by Escape Artists (a charity that provides arts-based education and support services to people with mental health problems, both in institutional settings and within the wider community), in association with community groups in and around Cambridge, including our students and staff with support from the University Arts Council.

The evening was inspired by Syd Barrett's music and paintings. A group of our Cambridge School of Art students - Alex Mummery (BA Fine Arts), James Shedden (BA Illustration), Garry Taylor (BA Photography) and Ryan Buxton (formerly Music at CRC) - performed an original group composition, Carnival, inspired by a painting of the same title by Syd Barrett, and their own arrangement of the early Pink Floyd number See Emily Play. The students also contributed still photographs, paintings, animations and short films, which formed a central part of a light show, which accompanied their music and also performances by a group from the Norfolk Street Resource Centre.

Staff involved in the production of this event were Mick Gowar, creative writing at the CSA, who was involved in producing the light show, and Simon Gunton, visiting lecturer, who led the music workshops at Cambridge School of Art. Also involved in organising the Cambridge School of Art workshop session was Chris Draper, head of BA Illustration.

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