PASW Regional Newsletter: Spring 2006
Public Art South West Activities
Public Art South West is recognised as one of the leading public art development agencies in the UK. Primarily serving the south west of England, its work extends beyond geographical boundaries in terms of the critical thinking and application of artists' skills and creativity it promotes. It works with artists and national and regional public and private sector organisations across Britain, and actively networks with a range of professionals within art and the built and natural environment.
Recent Projects and Initiatives include:
www.publicartonline.org.uk
This unique resource has an increasingly growing visitor base, which now totals over 30,000 per month. There are now over 850 people subscribing to the e-mailing list. If you aren't already using the site, log on and see what you are missing! In the words of the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA), "Publicartonline is a valuable resource in bringing architects and artists together."
Local Authorities
PASW prioritises working in partnership with local authorities across the region and below is a snapshot of the work PASW has been doing. PASW has also commissioned specific articles about projects throughout the south west, most of which have included partnership working.
Cornwall - PASW continues to support Kerrier's Liveability projects, which have placed lead artists, Heidi Dorschler and Pete Hill, on design teams for the development and refurbishment of every park in the district. PASW has been advising Penwith District Council on its regeneration plans and also Newlyn Art Gallery on the inclusion of artists within its refurbishment programme. PASW also continues to work with Royal Cornwall NHS Trust.
Devon - The Devon Quality Design Initiative (DQDI), which comprises representatives from all the Devon local authorities including the County Council, has appointed the consultants Gerry Wall and Jo Montague to develop the scope and work of the Initiative over the coming year, particularly in relation to opportunities arising from changes in national planning legislation. The work is funded through resources from PASW, ACESW, Local Authority Partnership Funding, Devon County Council, Teignbridge and West Devon District Councils. PASW has been advising The Royal Albert Museum, Exeter on the inclusion of an artist in its design team for the refurbishment of the museum and has continued to advise them post appointment of Andrew Cross.
PASW is supporting Groundwork SW, the regional office of Groundwork UK, to work with consultants in developing a strategy for the arts, which will be used to inform their work across the region. The strategy, and an accompanying bid to Grants for the Arts, heralds a strategic and creative approach to the Trust's future work with artists and arts projects. It includes the appointment of a strategic co-ordinator for the arts, and several seconded specialist artist posts, alongside ongoing training, research and debate. This way of thinking and developing arts practice could provide a model for other Groundwork Trusts across the UK.
Dorset - PASW is supporting a number of initiatives in Dorset. The Dorset Strategic Partnership, comprising district and borough councils, the County Council, ACESW and PASW, has now appointed consultants, General Public Agency, to initiate the first stage of a new design and heritage project. The intention is to break new ground in the delivery of design and heritage work locally and to raise the profile of the work of artists within the planning process to new and challenging levels. It is expected that this work will lead to significant progress towards the consolidation of the principle of good practice throughout the county.
Through the Community Planning process, Dorset County Council is seeking to co-ordinate a strategy for quality design which will integrates artists' practice. PASW continues to support programmes which have placed lead artists within design teams and project teams at West Bay Regeneration near Bridport and at Durlston Country Park near Swanage. Both of these initiatives feed into the strategy for the development and interpretation of the Jurassic Coast.
Bournemouth and Poole - PASW has supported and part resourced the recruitment process at Poole Borough Council for a new public art post. Bournemouth Borough Council continues its consultancy work, which will lead to a Development Plan for Public Art.
Gloucestershire - Gloucester now has a new Urban Regeneration Company, Gloucester Heritage, the first heritage led URC in the country. PASW has supported the recruitment of consultants, Gingko Projects, to co-ordinate a public art strategy for Gloucester Heritage, which will form part of a wider Urban Regeneration Framework being prepared by Terence O' Rourke. PASW will continue to be actively involved in the delivery of this piece of work.
Gloucester's Celebration Lights, Phase One, were unveiled during Christmas 2005. PASW is supporting Gloucester City Council to undertake the second phase of design and installation with artist Ron Haselden.
Wiltshire - For details on work in Wiltshire please refer to the article further on in this newsletter.
Advocacy
PASW continues to work with a range of partners and advise on projects across the UK in depth, where it can.
PASW was invited to attend a specialist meeting in The Hague, Netherlands, which was hosted by the Dutch Government and included representatives from a range of European countries, to talk about its work and PROJECT ñ engaging artists in the built environment. This was a good opportunity to learn first hand about European practice and make new contacts, many of whom wish to work collaboratively in the future. PASW was also invited to make presentations to a range of seminars and events in the south west including Gloucestershire County Council, Dorset County Council and South Hams District Council.
Maggie Bolt is part of the Public Art and Architecture Group, an internal Arts Council England advisory group, a member of the South West Design Review Panel, Vice Chair of ixia ñ excellence in public art and ëExcellence in Design', a panel member of Design South West, Creating: Excellence and on the shadow board for the Architecture and Built Environment Centre for Devon and Cornwall.
Training
PASW ran two training days for Arts Development Officers (ADOs) in late 2005. The course ë Everything you always wanted to know about public art but were afraid to ask...' was designed as an introduction to public art for Arts Development Officers who felt they lacked information, confidence and skills in national and regional developments and knowledge about planning policy and public art implementation. Contributors included Maggie Bolt, Director of PASW, Liz Smith, Public Art Officer at Southampton City Council, Carol Bristow, Senior Planner with Swindon Borough Council and John Milverton, Senior Development Control Officer at East Devon District Council. The course included a toolkit and offered follow-up support. The course was heavily oversubscribed and there was interest from ADOs throughout the country. PASW will therefore be repeating the training during 2006/7.
PASW also designed and delivered 'Why not me? ñ how to get involved with public art commissions and what to expect' in partnership with Creative Skills Cornwall. The training, aimed specifically at artists and led by Lee Corner, with contributions from Mark Luck, Senior Projects Manager, North Somerset Council, and Cornwall artist, Heidi Dorschler, took place in early 2006. It provided an overview of national, regional and county developments in public art, and took artists through the process of responding to briefs which place artists in strategic contexts in regeneration and new developments.
Lead Artists and Artists on Design Teams research
PASW has been tracking a number of projects which have appointed lead artists and artists on design teams. These include Tintagel Town Square and Visitor Interpretation, Yeovil Hospital, Durlston County Park and Kerrier Liveability Scheme. Case studies have been produced, through consultation with the artists and commissioners on these schemes. Look out for these on the PASW website www.publicartonline.org.uk. They are due to be posted in spring 2006.
PROJECT: engaging artists in the built environment
The final round of awards to support the involvement of artists in groundbreaking new projects throughout the UK has taken place. In this round, PROJECT awarded over £106,000, bringing the number of schemes supported to thirty and the total amount awarded to £320,000. The latest round includes opportunities for artists on a broad range of regeneration schemes, from working on a major masterplanning scheme in Leith, near Edinburgh to an artist working with the Property Design Section of Derbyshire County Council.
During the two year pilot phase, PROJECT has attracted enormous interest from around the UK. Whilst opportunities to apply to the scheme have now closed, Public Art South West will continue to manage and support all the awards made until March 2006. A formal evaluation of the scheme is currently under way and this is due to be completed by February 2006. A publication is planned and will be available in June 2006. Three schemes have been supported in the south west:
Plymouth City Council, Plymouth Waterfront: A lead artist will join a new multi-disciplinary project team and develop a new planning framework to regenerate a ëtriangle of opportunity' along the central length of Plymouth Waterfront. The partners are Plymouth City Council, Sutton Harbour Company, Plymouth City Centre Company and other public and private sector interests including English Partnerships, the University of Plymouth, Government Office for the South West and the South West Regional Development Agency.
Barnstaple Regeneration Scheme, Barnstaple, Devon: North Devon District Council, working with Devon County Council, has appointed the artist, Simon Watkinson, to help develop the planning briefs for important sites in central Barnstaple. A report on this project appears separately in this issue.
Sovereign Housing, Barton Hill, Bristol: The project partners are Community at Heart, Bristol City Council, Levitt Bernstein Architects, Architecture Centre, Bristol and the University of the West of England. The artist, David Cotterrell, has been appointed to work as part of the project team that is developing the second building phase of a regeneration programme in Barton Hill, Bristol.
Details of these and all the schemes supported are available on www.project-awards.org.uk