[20
MAR 01] WARWICKSHIRE WILDLIFE TRUST NEWS
New Seats A Blooming Marvellous Idea
Giant
flowers will be revealed in Coventry this week to show that a
community hasn’t been sitting around doing nothing.
The
flowers will act as seats in Primrose Hill Street, Hillfields
following work by almost 150 local people.
The
project, co-ordinated by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, will be
launched at the Hillfields Concierge this Friday.
Each
of the 'flowers' are based on the ideas of local people including
children at Hillfields Play Centre, a local women's group, the
Christian Fellowship and Sidney Stringer School.
Artist
Karen Osborne from Birmingham is responsible for the design of the
giant flowers and she collected together drawings from local people
and then worked up designs for the most popular flowers, which include
daisies, daffodils, poppies, sunflowers and roses.
She
said:
"Any
art feature had to compete with the scale of the flats and the very
tall trees as you enter Hillfields.
“A
single piece of art would simply be visually swamped! The colourful
flowering seats will make a subtle focal point to brighten up the
estate and welcome visitors.
“They
will also make reference to nature which fits nicely with the other
environmental work done by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust in
Hillfields."
Cllr
Dave Batten, cabinet member (Development and Renewal), said:
"These
blooming seats are a blooming marvellous idea. This is real hands on
- or bottoms on art.
“The
ideas came from local people and I am sure that local people will
enjoy seeing the art and using it too."
Seven
of Hillfields' favourite flowers will be installed on Primrose Hill
Street, outside Unity House and near to the bus-stop.
The
Hillfields Play Centre will have six seats in a 'fairy circle' on the
lawn outside and more seats will be dotted around the estate in groups
for local people to use.
'Blooming
seats' is part of a wider environmental project in Hillfields called
Patchwork. Run by the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, recent achievements
include planting 10,000 spring bulbs at the concierge, creating
community gardens from derelict land, organic food-growing schemes and
making bird boxes.
Jenny
Sansom, Patchwork's Project Officer, added
"I
am absolutely delighted with Karen's artwork. Her giant flowers are
a perfect complement to our work with the living environment at the
Concierge and elsewhere in Hillfields."
The
Patchwork Project is funded by European Regional Development Fund and
the Department for Transport, Environment & the Regions.
They
are overseen by the Area Regeneration Team, part of the City
Development Directorate.
|
