Artists have been commissioned to produce a piece of public art in seven towns across Warwickshire.
These installations will together form part of an innovative project to help boost the local economy, led by Creative Giants, in collaboration with Warwickshire County Council and the region’s five District and Borough councils.
Creative Giants is a specialist art-led project management team and studio which has worked with artists to create installations for a range of events including Glastonbury Festival and Coventry City of Culture.
The successful artists responded to a set of unique briefs created by Creative Giants which were informed by the opinions and stories about the towns, provided by local people.
After a process of interviews and workshops to test their ideas the following artists / design studios have been selected from a pool of 65 applications, to create designs for the towns of Polesworth, Atherstone, Nuneaton, Bedworth, Rugby, Leamington and Stratford.
- Edie Jo Murray
- Accent London
- Ruby Road Productions
- Toy Studio
- Paul Channing
- Spencer Jenkins
- Studio Mutt
- Parveer Braich
The artists are being mentored by Creative Giants and working with specialist fabrication contractors, Factory Settings, who will design, build and install a single creation in each town in late Spring/early Summer. More information will be revealed as work progresses in the coming months.
The aim of the initiative is to help create a sense of place and encourage shoppers and visitors to the county’s high streets and town centre spaces. It’s part of the County Council’s multi-pronged strategy to support economic recovery.
Cllr Kam Kaur, Warwickshire County Council’s Portfolio Holder 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 project is funded with £150,000 from the County Council’s Place Shaping Fund, and £194,000 from the Government’s Getting Building Fund through the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership (CWLEP).
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 Warwickshire County Council, 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: “CWLEP is helping to fund this fantastic project because of the difference it will make to the heart of communities throughout our area to help boost their local economy by supporting key sectors such as leisure, hospitality and retail. Re-imagining our town centres is one of the main goals of the CWLEP’s Strategic Reset Framework to encourage shoppers and visitors to return to our high streets.”
Updated on 22-02-2022.