Hereford Sculpture Trail
Eight new contemporary artworks for Hereford city centre jointly commissioned by Hereford College of Arts and Meadow Arts to celebrate 170 years of creative education in the city.
Hereford is now home to hundreds of students studying specialist degree and college-level courses in art, design, media and performance at Hereford College of Arts. This project provided the opportunity for emerging artists from the college to publicly show their work alongside new works from established artists working nationally and internationally.
The new Sculpture Trail in Hereford city centre draws inspiration from past English laws of the 17th and 18th centuries that required shops to display visual trade representations crafted by local artisans. The project reimagines this tradition for the 21st century, reusing disused signage brackets above retail units.
Anne de Charmant, Artistic Director at Meadow Arts says: "The first thing this project has taught me is to look up and see the city beyond what's in front of you. We really hope that this project will stimulate different responses. Each and every sculpture has another dimension. You can really ponder, look at them and take something away. We are hoping it will get people to think a little bit differently."
The artworks are numbers 9-16 on the Hereford Public Art Trail.
About the works
Cloud Palette #1 - Matthew Cornford
Image courtesy of HCA photographer, D Pryde Jarman.
Matthew Cornford is an artist and teaches on the fine art programme at the University of Brighton. His work is inspired by his exploration of the Hereford College of Arts archive. During his research, he discovered an artist's paint palette was used on posters and prospectuses to promote the art school. The addition of a blue sky symbolises the transformative power of art to encourage 'blue sky thinking'.
Diamond - Lothar Götz
"I'm interested in exploring spatial ideas and I like to use abstract geometric forms, fields and lines of intense colour because I believe that aspects of decoration and colour can have a real impact upon us."
Born in Germany, Lothar Götz is based both in London and Berlin. He is an Associate Professor of Fine Art at Sunderland University and has exhibited widely in the UK and abroad. Here he reimagines a simple shop sign that responds to others on the street but advertises only itself. Broad Street has a rich history as the site of local festivities and significant events. The pattern harks back to a folk art tradition of costumes and flags, celebrations and parades in a bold and contemporary way.
The Sturgeon and the Artist - Nicholas Stevenson
Nicholas Stevenson's artwork will feature a giant sturgeon and a figure reaching for it, symbolising the unpredictable nature of the creative process. Inspired by Hereford's historical giant sturgeon, caught in 1846, the sculpture will evoke the mysteries of the natural world and reflect on human interference. The ambiguous figure pays tribute to those who have navigated artistic endeavours in Hereford, capturing the elusive essence of creativity. The design seeks to rekindle a positive link between Hereford's natural history and creative education.
Unleashed - Laura White
"My piece appears to be part of the original sign, but as the hanging structure juts out from the building, the formal design cascades and begins to unravel, taking on a journey of its own."
Laura White is a London-based artist who has exhibited widely in the UK and internationally. In her practice it is important for her to be led by her materials and to collaborate with them, rather than imposing herself on them. In this artwork, White has explored what wrought iron may do if it were free to go its own way. Flowing out from the hanging bracket and fixings, it results in an extravagant entanglement, a baroque twirl of dancing iron.
Bangin' the Drum - Mark Houghton
Image courtesy of HCA photographer, D Pryde Jarman.
Crafted by DW Drum Workshop and Mark Houghton.
"The idea for this sculpture was to create a facsimile of the bass drum from The Pretenders drummer, Martin Chambers' iconic black and white drum kit, a famous feature of live performances since the band's initial success in the 1970s."
Mark Houghton was born in Warrington and studied Fine Art at Middlesex University and Cardiff Metropolitan University. He lectures on fine art at Hereford College of Arts, specialising in 3D approaches to art-making. The artwork honours the The Pretenders' Hereford roots and aims to boost Hereford's music scene and promote education in the arts.
Wonders - Celia Johnson co-produced with Wigmore High School
"David Garrick's famous quote "Wonders will never cease" was the starting point for this site-responsive work which hangs in the street where he was born."
Celia Johnson is an artist based in Hereford, currently studying for a PhD and making work about an industrial estate in Wolverhampton. Working with the Class 10 students from Wigmore High School, Johnson teased out a narrative from David Garrick's famous quote. Born in Hereford in 1717, Garrick was an influential English actor and playwright commemorated with a blue plaque on Maylord Street. Student drawings informed the letter shapes for the sign and the word 'wonders' embodies ideas of creativity, art and education.
Plough - Daniel Moss
"The plough symbolises the backbone of Herefordshire - a testament to its hard-working communities and agricultural heritage. Forged aluminium arms and tines are joined with machined brass elements to highlight the historic roots of farming."
Daniel Moss was born in Watford and grew up in Biggleswade, Bedfordshire. After an engineering apprenticeship and a degree in blacksmithing at Hereford College of Arts, he set up his own workshop and forge in Herefordshire. Moss' sculpture celebrates Herefordshire's agricultural heritage. The design references the parts of a plough and reimagines them in a new, sculptural way. The form almost resembles a skeleton of a living thing or the metaphorical 'body' of a community.
HR_101 - Rich Makin
"The amalgamation of history and modernity in this sculpture encapsulates the essence of Hereford's industrial soul, echoing the vibrant creativity that has shaped our city."
Rich Makin studied 3D Design at West Surrey College of Arts and is Digital Design Lead at Hereford College of Arts. He has a long-standing fascination for the machine aesthetic, creating form and structure through the combination of digital and physical processes. Makin draws inspiration from the Skylon, fabricated in Hereford by Painter Brothers for the Festival of Britain in 1951, munitions production and the Special Metals Wiggin site, which all serve as beacons of resilience, creativity and progress.
Hereford College of Arts is the home of arts education in Herefordshire, providing a platform for the next generation of creatives to launch their own exciting careers in the creative industries.
Meadow Arts is an inspirational contemporary visual arts charity delivering ambitious and accessible projects in unexpected, often rural places.