Rotherham's Gallery Town project in the frame for £100,000 reboot

THE artist behind Hull’s Fish Pavement and Blackpool’s Comedy Carpet has been tasked with helping produce a public piece to boost Rotherham’s profile.

Gordon Young (pictured below) has been confirmed as creative consultant for a six-figure revival of Gallery Town, which aims to bring more visitors to the town centre.

Rotherham Borough Council has given £28,000, with a £68,530 arts council grant secured and £10,000 more coming from private backers.

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The project — called Gallery Town Redux — will include establishing a new partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP).

The bid said: “Redux will create the basis for relaunching Gallery Town as a strategic cultural agency for Rotherham, with a view to it playing an integral part in taking forward the town’s cultural strategy.

“Through the partnership with YSP and a programme of work with Gordon Young, the project will address the critical issue of building knowledge and appreciation of high-quality public art.

“Gordon is one of the UK’s leading artists in the field of public art, with over 30 years’ experience of creating projects as diverse as the Fish Pavement and the Comedy Carpet.

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“He will devise a programme of activity to reach communities in Rotherham to invite them to share their stories and histories to inform art interventions thoughout the town centre.”

The Fish Pavement — a trail of lifesize sea creatures including a shark outside a bank — was created in 1992 to encourage people to explore quieter parts of Hull.

And the £2.6 million Comedy Carpet — featuring catchphrases, jokes and songs across 2,200sq metres — celebrates Blackpool’s links to laughter.

Open air project Gallery Town was started in 2011 and grew to include more than 100 pieces of art across 60 locations, including work by local talent as well as facsimiles of masterpieces.

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The new Redux phase will begin a partnership with YSP which will result in a contemporary outdoor sculpture being unveiled in Rotherham town centre.

YSP has made a longlist of prospective artists for the commission. 

Those shortlisted will be invited to give full proposals, which will be exhibited at Clifton Park Museum and Riverside House in August.

The Gallery Town board will make a final choice on a winner, which will be installed in a prominent town centre spot in early 2020.

Applications have also been invited for the temporary roles of programme director and marketing associate for the project, paying up to £200 a day.

 

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