SUPERSIZED dragonflies currently living at an Oxford school are set to be auctioned off.

Eight colourful sculptures, which were created for a public trail at Cheney School seven months ago, are now looking to find their permanent homes.

The school's on-site Rumble Museum, which oversaw the project, will accept bids in excess of £600 per dragonfly.

Proceeds will be invested back in the school for a new public art installation, to replace the patterned insects.

Lorna Robinson, director of the museum, said: "The dragonflies have been a beautiful, colourful and imaginative feature at Cheney, and have been greatly enjoyed by students, staff and visitors for several months.

"We are now holding an auction so that they can find new permanent homes, in order for new futuristic art installations to appear on the eight plinths."

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The new installation will be prepared for an event called the Festival of the Future, which will be held at Cheney on Monday, March 25.

It will feature more than 60 organisations running stalls, activities and exhibitions about the future of the world, from robotics and artificial intelligence to climate change and more.

The fibreglass dragonflies have a wing span of 5ft and were designed by Cheney art students, to represent a different subject.

They were unveiled at the school in March during the Iris Festival of Natural History.

The Rumble Museum also asked six Oxford primary schools to design a miniature dragonfly each, to be included in the first day of the trail.

Local businesses were invited to 'sponsor' any of the eight larger dragonflies before their creation, to help cover the cost of materials.

Dr Robinson said: "The idea for the art trail came from watching a news report on the Manchester Bee in the City project.

"It seemed like a very dynamic way of engaging a whole community in public art, and I thought this would be a wonderful thing to have across the school.

"I chose dragonflies because they are very beautiful and intriguing creatures, which have been around for millions of years."

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Bidding is now open until the end of November, and bids are being accepted via email.

The Iris Project, a charity which promotes learning about the ancient world, is working with Cheney to grow the Rumble Museum and is also directed by Dr Robinson.

Anyone interested in buying one of the sculptures can email info@irisproject.org.uk, with the amount they would like to bid and the particular dragonfly or dragonflies they would like.

Designs each have a different subject or theme, such as literature, sport, art and the world.

A science-inspired dragonfly is decorated with an ammonite fossil painting and colours of the pH scale, while a pair of masks, silhouette of the Oxford skyline and music keys are painted on a dragonfly representing the performing arts.

The colourful models were created and installed by JSM Model Makers and Effects, using pupils' designs.

To view pictures of each dragonfly, visit thecheneydragonflies.home.blog.