Residents of Oakley Vale have been involving themselves in commissioning new art to enhance their area. Responding to a call out about ‘extraordinary art’ last autumn, Oakley Vale Community Association assisted in recruiting a panel of enthusiastic local residents.
Oakley Vale’s Journey
Since May 2016 the group has been working with Artistic Mentor Catherine Hemelryk from NN Contemporary Art. She has been guiding them through the process of commissioning new public art. To broaden their experiences they took a minibus trip to become inspired by sculpture in the capital. The panel got to experience art such as Gift Horse on the 4th plinth in Trafalgar Square and the Lullaby Factory in Great Ormond Street Hospital. Catherine also assisted the panel to write an artist brief and shortlist three artists. The artists then worked their proposal into a more developed plan.
After deliberating, the panel selected the final proposal by artist Richard Janes. The artwork will consist of an oak leaf sculpture near the lakes, an oak leaf bench beside the part on Butland Road and finally a smaller sculpture on the footpath in between. Richard will be attending the Community Association’s meeting at the Oakley Vale Community Centre at 7.30pm on 16th November. All residents of Oakley Vale are welcome to attend.
Richard Janes will be mentoring Peter Bullivant, a Corby-based artist, throughout this journey. This will give Peter the experience of working on a public art commission. Helen Willmott, Made With Many Programme Director says, “As part of the artist brief mentoring opportunities were written in to assure the cascading of skills to local artists who aspire to create art in the public realm”.
Hear About Richard Janes’ Inspiration
We are currently planning an unveiling event in 2017 to celebrate the installation of the new artwork for the estate.
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