A Hoot in Bath
If you are visiting the beautiful city of Bath this summer, don’t be surprised if you come across an owl or two along the way.
From 25th July until 10th September 100 individually decorated large owls (31⁄ feet tall) and smaller owlets (21⁄ feet) will be taking up their perches for Minerva’s Owls of Bath, a colourful, public art sculpture trail taking place in and around the city streets.
Owls were the chosen subject for 2018 in celebration of Bath’s Roman heritage. Delving into the city’s rich history, the inspiration comes from Minerva, the Roman goddess of wisdom to whom the Roman Baths Temple was dedicated in the 1st century AD.
Like her Greek goddess counterpart, Athena, Minerva’s sacred animal symbol was the owl of wisdom. In almost all her statues, including at the Louvre in Paris, Minerva is seen holding an owl, thought to have been a Little Owl, one of the smallest and most charismatic of the species. You can still see today an elaborate carving of the owl in the stone pediment of the Roman Baths Temple at the Roman Baths Museum.
The whole project has been a SouthWest affair. Local sculptor, Alan Dun, was inspired by the owl carving from the pediment saying: “The Little Owl has been a pleasure to sculpt; they are such characterful birds and their strong association with Roman Bath made for a fascinating challenge.”
He created the maquette (a small clay model) which was then 3D-scanned at the University of Bath. The owl scan datafile was used to programme a robotic arm CNC machine at Fineline, a film prop company in Bristol. The two super-sized master owl prototypes were cut from blocks of high-density polyurethane and sent to Country Leisure fibreglass factory, near Andover, to produce the full parliament of owl sculptures; three-dimensional canvases ready to be transformed into works of art.
With the sculptures positioned in public spaces and parks, the hundreds of thousands of residents and visitors to the city will be able to enjoy all sorts of decorative visual art modes, from mosaics to graffiti. The large owls have been sponsored by businesses and each one is married up with an artist, designer or celebrity. Official Owls of Bath artists include respected BP Portrait Award artist, Richard Twose, and Bristol graffiti artists, Inkie and Cheba. BBC Wildlife presenter, Chris Packham, is also taking part, explaining: “I’m thinking of anthropomorphising my owl. Maybe personalising it a bit, giving it a bit of my own history.”
Meanwhile schools, charities and other community groups have sponsored and decorated the little owlets which are displayed in groups in indoor locations around the city such as Bath Library. Some enthusiastic and talented pupils from the Royal High School are looking
forward to having their work on public display. Head of the Junior School, Heidi Hughes, said: “Creativity is at the heart of our rich, vibrant and inspired curriculum, so designing an owlet was a challenge not to miss.”
This is not the first public art sculpture trail for the city: back in 2008 the same organisers held one of the first events of its kind in the UK, King Bladud’s Pigs. It was in honour of legendary British founder of Bath (and the father of King Lear). Suffering with leprosy and employed as a swineherd, Bladud was said to have discovered the benefits of the springs centuries before the arrival of the Romans. He observed that after his pigs, who had also contracted the disease, had happily rolled around in mud heated by the water, their skin was healed. Trying it out for himself, he was subsequently cured of leprosy and in celebration of this miracle, Bath was founded.
King Bladud’s Pigs sculpture trail caught the public’s attention and more than 40,000 trail maps were handed out to visitors wanting to find all 100 hogs. Moving with the times, this year there will be an innovative Minerva’s Owls of Bath app, which is free to download, in addition to the paper maps. Each owl on the trail will contain an interactive beacon. On approaching the owl, information about the sculpture will pop up on the app users’ telephone, including the owl’s name and photo, the sponsor and the artist’s name.
As well as being a huge draw for the city, Minerva’s Owls of Bath 2018 is a fantastic fundraiser for local charities. On 17th October, after three months of public display, the owls will be gathered together in a parliament for the Hoot Farewell auction. It’s a tried and tested formula: 16,000 people attended the auction of King Bladud’s Pigs and raised over £200,000 for charity.
Seventy per cent of this year’s profits will go to the Royal United Hospital’s new Cancer Centre whilst the remaining 30 per cent will be divided equally between Bath Young Carers, the Roman Baths Archway Project and the UK Little Owl Project.
The owlets, meanwhile, will be returned to the schools and community groups that decorated them to keep as a lasting legacy of the Minerva’s Owls of Bath 2018 project.
It’s a win, win event: providing a free, family-fun art trail, attracting thousands of visitors to the city and ultimately raising funds for local charities.