Artist Anna’s got designs on college’s contribution to town’s Big Carousel trail
AN artist whose work reflects a particular interest in recycling and sustainability is to design one of the horse sculptures for this year’s Big Burton Carousel trail.
Anna Roebuck, whose workshop is in Winshill, recently took delivery of the Burton and South Derbyshire College’s horse that will form part of this year’s trail around Burton.
Anna is a mixed media artist, working in a range of mediums and specialising in recycling and recycled plastics. Not only does she make and sell one-off pieces, she also teaches workshops, delivers residencies and gives talks.
Her fascination with reusing and recylcling begain when she trained in fine art tapestry at Edinburgh College of Art in the 90s. She says on her website: “I created installationbased artwork using all sorts of mediums, from plastic bags and rusty metal to mud and blood.
“My work at the time explored the interaction between man and nature, and though there have been many changes along the way, the interest in how we interact with our environment has always been key to what I do.”
Her involvement in this year’s trail – she says her sculpture will be inspired by “hidden industries” in
Burton – comes after she was one of the artists who took part in 2020’s Burton Swans project. Her sculpture was installed in the Washlands.
The Big Burton Carousel is set to feature 30 sculptures of galloping horses, like the ones we know and love from funfair carousels, which will make up a free, interactive sculpture trail around Burton. The
idea of creating carousel horses was chosen to pay tribute to Burtonbased fairground ride makers Orton and Spooner, which created some of the world’s best fairground rides and showmen’s caravans from the 1890s to the 1950s.
The trail will go live this summer, and for 10 weeks the horses will attract visitors and residents to the
streets, open spaces and public areas of Burton. There will be a printed map of the trail and an app helping people to plot a route, discover the story behind each sculpture, its artist and its sponsor.
After the trail closes, the sculptures will be auctioned off to the highest bidders. All the proceeds will go to Burton and District Mind.
Chris Beech, assistant principal at Burton and South Derbyshire College, said: “Anna is a fantastic artist, and we can’t wait to see her design ideas brought to life in the final piece. The Big Burton Carousel will be a great way to encourage people to discover more about their town while raising money for Burton and District Mind.”