PUBLIC ART - FLORENCE PARK, CHICHESTER (2024)
The Brief
When Bartholomews, the international agri-feed business, moved from one of their original sites in Chichester, Whyke Residents Association and Chichester City Council decided that this was a link which should not be forgotten.
Together they decided to commission a piece of public art to commemorate this piece of local, commercial history; Bartholomews having been part of the local landscape for some 140 years.
The seating that we had installed in the sculpture park in Donnington in 2022 (see below) had gone down a treat and I was sure that, with a design based on the crop varieties underpinning Bartholomews' business, we could do something similarly beautiful and practical at Florence Park.
With funding from the developers of the former Bartholomews site and Chichester City Council, I set to work to design three lovely seats which would show off the crops which Bartholomews supply to the international farming industry.
The seats, made from Portland Stone and featuring beets, radish, crimson clover, wheat, sunflowers and oil rape, are meant to invite young and old alike to sit and chat, relax and ponder whilst being in the green space that surrounds them. With the sounds of children playing on the fabulous facilities available to them and a cup of coffee from Julia's tea room just a few paces away, what's not to love about this new welcoming community space.
My thanks goes to:
- Judith Ratledge and the Whyke Residents Association for commissioning this project and pushing it to completion.
- Chichester City Council - particular Sam, Kim and Andrew - for their support in making the project a reality
- A special shout out to Andrew, Stephen and Dean for your strength, commitment and good humour in lifting and shifting some 690kg of stone!
- Kate Viner for your studio, your company and, as usual, hours of fun and laughter!
PUBLIC ART - DONNINGTON SCULPTURE GARDEN (2022)
The Brief
Donnington is located on the Manhood Peninsula on the South Coast of England, close to Chichester. This part of the South Coast is teeming with local flora and fauna, many of which are native only to this locality. It also boasts an impressive industrial past with the Selsey Railway and the Chichester Canal both writ large in the local history books.
The invitation was therefore to create a communal outdoor space, celebrating both this industrial heritage and the beautiful natural surrounds. A project to celebrate connectivity - of places, of people and of us with the local environment.
MORNING HAS BROKEN
In response to the brief, I felt that a carved seating area would be ideal to bring these ideas, and the community, together. A carved tableau where the unsung heroes of our gardens and hedgerows, greet us as we start each new day.
The seats, set under the steel pergola, are designed to be “family friendly”; their design accessible to young and old alike. They will welcome visitors to this new space, inviting them, initially, just to sit and spend time.
On coming closer, I hope people will discover and delight in the detail: the accessible, local motifs which are carved in the stone. Motifs for all to recognise and discuss, detail to discover over time, artwork over which to mull and think: because they are carved in stone. And stone is solid. It will stay with us and change with us, weather and age with us. But it will stay constant to us and allow us that community time for many years to come.
My thanks goes to:
- Donnington Parish Council for their trust and support in creating this piece of the project.
- Kate Viner for leading and coordinating the project; for the help, inspiration and hours of fun and laughter!
- Mehran Ghahari and Mel Howse, two enormously talented artistts - for their collaboration and professionalism.
- The enormous list of friends and neighbours in the area who gave their time and energy to make this such a great project to work on.