Cameras out please, sculpture lovers
Call issued for Yorkshire volunteers to help create photographic database of every work on show in UK
THE famous works of Henry Moore and Barbara Hepworth have made Yorkshire synonymous with sculpture.
Their pieces are studded throughout the regional landscape, from the outdoor splendour of the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, near Wakefield, to urban centres such as Leeds.
Organisations are working to compile a photographic database of all the public sculpture across the UK – and they are on the lookout for volunteers from Yorkshire.
Art UK, with the help of Royal Photographic Society (RPS) members, already has 22,000 images available to view online.
Because the project was curbed during lockdown, the RPS recently said it has been extended until the end of the year and put out a call for volunteer photographers in Leeds and Hull.
Speaking about why the project is being undertaken, Dr Anthony McIntosh, public sculpture manager at Art UK, said: “I think that we have to remember that public sculpture often teaches us about history, good and bad.
“Volunteers often get into conversations with people who live locally and they learn a lot of information about the sculpture.”
The ambition to document all the country’s publicly accessibly art began with the Public Catalogue Foundation – the former title of Art UK – and BBC Your Paintings working together, in an effort to create a database of paintings.
For sculpture, the main focus is on documenting what is in the streets, parks and some 3,000 collections all over the country.
The first images began to appear on the Art UK website early last year.
These will allow people who are visiting a particular area to plan what kind of art they would like to see there, said Dr McIntosh.
“You can create your own collection, if you like,” he added.
The extension comes amid a wider debate about public sculpture after protesters in Bristol pulled down a prominent statue of slave trader Edward Colston and dumped it in the river. Following this, Leeds City Council launched a review of statues and monuments. The authority said it will seek views and recommendations on how the city “could better honour and represent” inclusivity and diversity in public spaces, particularly in response to issues raised by the Black Lives Matter movement.
Meanwhile, a statue of Peter Pan has been put up in Bradford’s Lister Park as a gift from philanthropist Sir Trevor Pears.
The present cast is one of only eight full-scale versions made by the celebrated Morris Singer Foundry for the Fine Art Society from a bronze in Sefton Park, Liverpool.
The original, placed in London’s Kensington Gardens, was produced by renowned artist George James Frampton in 1912. It depicts the JM Barrie character being lifted up on a swirling rock.
Public sculpture often teaches us about history, good and bad.
Dr Anthony McIntosh, public sculpture manager at Art UK.