ARTISTS have been commissioned to produce pieces of public art in Rugby, Leamington and Stratford as part of a project to help boost the local economy.
The Our Spaces initiative – led by project management team Creative Giants in collaboration with Warwickshire County Council (WCC) and district and borough councils – aims to help create a sense of place, and encourage shoppers and visitors to high streets and town centres.
The successful artists responded to a set of briefs from Creative Giants which were informed by local people’s opinions and stories about the towns.
After a process of interviews and workshops to test their ideas, eight artists and design studios have been selected from 65 applicants, to create designs for the three towns – as well as Nuneaton, Bedworth, Polesworth and Atherstone.
The successful applicants are Edie Jo Murray, Accent London, Ruby Road Productions, Toy Studio, Paul Channing, Spencer Jenkins, Studio Mutt and Parveer Braich.
The artists will work with specialist fabrication contractors Factory Settings, who will design, build and install a single creation in each town in late spring or early summer. More information will be revealed as work progresses in the coming months.
The project is funded with £150,000 from WCC’s Place Shaping Fund, and £194,000 from the Government’s Getting Building Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).
Coun Kam Kaur, WCC’s spokeswoman for Economy and Place and CWLEP board director, said: “The past two years have shown us that outside spaces have never been so important. This exciting project is designed to inspire residents to visit their local spaces and encourage safe social interaction and participation.
“Businesses and communities are working incredibly hard to adapt to the impact of Covid, and this project is one of many initiatives to help support their efforts.”
The installations are expected to be in place for up to four years – but could potentially be adopted and remain in place longer. The selection panel to choose the artists was led by Creative Giants joined by a guest producer from Coventry City of Culture Trust, as well representatives from WCC and the district and borough councils.
Simon Vaughan, Managing Director of Creative Giants, said: “It’s a powerful message to put creativity at the forefront of economic recovery and it speaks volumes of the forward-thinking mindset of Warwickshire.
“We’re thrilled that we have a strong group of artists and designers to work with and that they are excited to make ambitious pieces of work for each of the towns across the county. This will be the spark that ignites the fire of creatively reimagining our public spaces with artists and their work front and centre.”
Helen Peters, chair of the CWLEP’s culture and tourism business group, said: “Re-imagining our town centres is one of the main goals of the CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework to encourage shoppers to return to our high streets.
“This fantastic project will play a part in that and I can’t wait to see the final results in these eight Warwickshire towns – which will help to boost the local economy by supporting key sectors such as leisure, hospitality and retail.”
Find out more about the artists and design studios using the links below.
Edie Jo Murray – https://www.echodeltamoon.co.uk
Accent London – https://www.accentlondon.com
Ruby Road Productions – http://www.rubyroadproductions.co.uk/#Bio
Toy Studio – https://www.toystudio.co.uk
Paul Channing – https://www.pchanning.design
Spencer Jenkins – https://www.spencerjenkins.co.uk
Studio Mutt – https://www.studiomutt.com
Parveer Braich – https://designbywomxn.com/parveer-braich
