PICKET PIECE PUBLIC ART PROJECT
Commissioned by Test Valley Borough Council (work in progress)
Picket Piece, Andover, Hampshire
Picket Piece, Andover, Hampshire
Test Valley Borough Council have commissioned a new sculptural public artwork for Picket Piece, Andover. Every aspect of it has been designed together with the local community, resulting in a truly collaborative co-creation. A series of workshops with school pupils, local groups and the public have dictated the artwork shape, colour and detail, as well as the location.
The first stage of community engagement consisted of nature-themed creative activities with the Toddler and Baby Group, Vigo Primary School, Winton Academy, the Health Walk group and a public workshop at the Village Hall. The aim of these sessions was to create small sculptures (and sculptural seed bombs!) to inspire the shape of the public artwork and to find some potential sites for it.
Following this, there was an online campaign to allow everyone to vote for a sculpture shape from a shortlist of those created during my visit. The winner was the dormouse! This little animal is the subject of a number of conservation projects in the area, you can spot dormouse detection tubes, dormouse boxes and a dormouse bridge (!) in Picket Piece. Hazel hedgerows are what has given rise to the dormouse community, and these are now as protected in the area, as the mouse itself. The dormouse has therefore helped to shape the local landscape so it seems fitting that it has been chosen by the community to represent their area.
A second round of workshops involved almost 400 local school pupils, as well as people of all ages at the Picket Piece Village Hall, in co-designing the artwork colours and surface details.
Join the Picket Piece Public Art Project group on Facebook for project updates.
The first stage of community engagement consisted of nature-themed creative activities with the Toddler and Baby Group, Vigo Primary School, Winton Academy, the Health Walk group and a public workshop at the Village Hall. The aim of these sessions was to create small sculptures (and sculptural seed bombs!) to inspire the shape of the public artwork and to find some potential sites for it.
Following this, there was an online campaign to allow everyone to vote for a sculpture shape from a shortlist of those created during my visit. The winner was the dormouse! This little animal is the subject of a number of conservation projects in the area, you can spot dormouse detection tubes, dormouse boxes and a dormouse bridge (!) in Picket Piece. Hazel hedgerows are what has given rise to the dormouse community, and these are now as protected in the area, as the mouse itself. The dormouse has therefore helped to shape the local landscape so it seems fitting that it has been chosen by the community to represent their area.
A second round of workshops involved almost 400 local school pupils, as well as people of all ages at the Picket Piece Village Hall, in co-designing the artwork colours and surface details.
Join the Picket Piece Public Art Project group on Facebook for project updates.