Art in the Valleys
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Wiard Sterk, director of CBAT, the Arts & Regeneration Agency, writes
of its wider importance for the area
IT may be a case of the grass being greener or, perhaps, simply having
more time to stand and stare, but there is a persistent perception when
visiting the continent, that public art plays a significantly greater
role than it does in Wales and the rest of the UK.
But a new appreciation of the arts has dawned among Wales' decision
makers, affecting a significant impact across our landscapes.
Art and the skills artists can bring to the built environment are also
no longer valued just for their aesthetics.
According to Wales' Planning Policy, "The inclusion of public art adds
a social and cultural dimension to a town centre visit and may also
have economic benefits."
Cardiff, Newport and Swansea, as well as Wrexham, have long recognised
the importance of commissioning art as part of urban regeneration.
Works like the newly unveiled striking blue water tower sculptures in
Cardiff's Callaghan Square, confirm a strong sense of belonging to the
European community, enhanced further by the many imaginative examples
of public art, commissioned in Cardiff in the last 100 years.
But, perhaps more surprisingly, Blaenau Gwent is also a case in point.
Until recently strongly associated with heavy industry and social
deprivation, the county is quickly shedding its traditional image of an
area in decline, thanks to the innovative vision and ground- breaking
partnership between Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and the Welsh
Development Agency.
With the social, economic and physical regeneration of towns and
villages in Blaenau Gwent firmly in mind, the partnership engaged CBAT,
the arts and regeneration agency, to work alongside a number of urban
design agencies, to identify opportunities for the integration of arts
projects in their planned town centre improvements.
This resulted in a comprehensive strategic framework for the
commissioning of a number of artists to work with other professionals,
and with communities, to develop detailed proposals for art
interventions.
On Monday the third in a series of major artworks will be unveiled in
Ebbw Vale by Alun Pugh AM, Minister for Culture, Welsh Language and
Sport.
Artist Martin Donlin, in partnership with CW Architects, has created a
visually stunning 150m long coloured glass and stainless steel canopy,
running along the indoor market and shops in Lower Bethcar Street. Its
design reflects the natural forms of the Ebbw Vale landscape.
Warm colours and cool tones complement existing surrounding building
materials, with patterns achieved by sandblasting the glass and
applying opaque ceramic enamels, silk screened and hand painted, before
being fired onto the surface.
The first two art works completed as part of the regeneration project
were the Beaufort Spheres in Brynmawr and St Paul's Footbridge in
nearby Cwm.
Beaufort Street is the historic shopping street and main artery of
Brynmawr and the artworks designed by artist Andy Hazell play a key
role in its revival.
The eight polycarbonate spheres have been suspended across the street,
and are an exciting combination of automata and lighting.
Each sphere is one metre in diameter and has in excess of 200 Light
Emitting Diodes (LEDs) set in rows, which light in sequence, giving the
illusion that the sphere is rolling.
The spheres are linked to an anemometer and sequenced so that they
appear to be rolling up the hill with a speed relative to the strength
of the wind.
Occasionally passing high sided vehicles trigger another sensor,
causing temporary disarray in the spheres' sequence and giving the
sense of an unexpected whirlwind.
Cwm's dramatic footbridge stands as a landmark on the approach to Ebbw
Vale.
Conceived by South Wales artist Andrew Rowe, working with Capita Gwent
Consultancy and contractors Rowecord, the design responds to the
steeply sloping topography of its environment, reaching over from the
lower levels of the town.
Linking the comprehensive school with the town, it serves a functional
as well as aesthetic purpose.
Any successful programme of public art projects requires an element of
community involvement to be fully effective.
Local people have an important role to play both in the consultation
and interpretive stages of selected projects, so that design concepts
have a clear grounding in the life and history of the region.
Community participation increases the sense of ownership and
understanding.
Further innovative artworks are planned for Blaenau Gwent, thanks to
substantial amounts of funding from the Arts Council for Wales' Lottery
Unit, ERDF and Communities First, with match funding from the WDA.
Integrating art in urban regeneration schemes potentially opens up a
range of funding sources, or can give others a focus, aiding social as
well as physical regeneration.
Commissions in progress include the upgrading of the stairways
providing pedestrian routes into Ebbw Vale's town centre, the creation
of Bank Square, a new public space in the town, the rejuvenation of
Alma Street in Brynmawr through the striking use of the 'Birds in a
Tree' sculptures and the transformation of Aberbeeg's roundabout at the
crossroads of the Ebbw Fawr and Ebbw Fach valleys.
Around a further six projects are in early stages of planning and fund
raising.
The contribution of the arts to the economic revival of Blaenau Gwent
may still be a far cry from the Guggenheim in Bilbao, but it certainly
is getting the area noted for all the right reasons.