16th June. Arts of Place - Ian Banks

BRADFORD MIRROR POOL CITY PARK

Different approaches to public art commissioning

Ian Banks, Director: Atoll

Evolution of the City Park Permanent commissions

Methods taken to engage the artists and the commissions

Other key projects to demonstrate different ways of engaging artists, methods of working and commission types

Different approaches to public art commissioning

Permanent & Temporary cross over (+ experience on City Park project, specifically the competition element):

Evolution of the City Park Permanent commissions

Methods taken to engage the artists and the commissions

Other key projects to demonstrate different ways of engaging artists, methods of working and commission types

Mirror Pool City Park is a joint project between:

• City of Bradford MDC• Bradford Centre Regeneration• English Partnerships•Yorkshire Forward

Landscape architects Gillespies lead a design team of: engineers Arup; water feature designers The Fountain Workshop; architects Sturgeon North; QS Davis Langdon;

and public art consultants Atoll

Context: P

roject IntroductionBradford Mirror Pool City Park – DESIGN BACKGROUND

Bradford Centre Regeneration Masterplan – Alsop Architects

The Bowl:

•A significant pool of water - celebrating the natural drainage point of the City. •An area of exhibition, learning, skills and business development. •Bradford’s showcase - the foyer to the City. •Generating participation and spectating, meeting and relaxing. •Gathering place for Bradfordians to celebrate their new landscape.

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – ORIGINS

Bowl Neighbourhood Development Framework

Four Guiding Themes:

•Improve Access and Movement•Raise the Quality of the Environment•Encourage New Development•Enhance Activity

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – ORIGINS

Animating the Public Realm – Aspiration:

To create a city centre that bustles with life and where buildings spill their activity onto the streets.

•New buildings should front on to the public realm•Buildings should create ‘eyes’ onto the street•Buildings should include a vertical mix of uses•Ground floors to have active frontage•Street Cafes encouraged•Public spaces will contain opportunities for events and performance

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – ORIGINS

Issue 13: Exploiting the City’s Cultural Assets

Issue for the plan is how to exploit the cultural assets of the city centre, so that Bradford city centre can become a recognised destination in its own right.

The three listed options were:

a) Promote the expansion of the existing cultural facilities within the city centre. b) Promote additional cultural/leisure facilities within the city centre. c) Provide better connections/linkages between the existing and future cultural facilities.

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – CULTURAL INFLUENCES

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – CULTURAL INFLUENCES

The Mission of the Only Connect Cultural Strategy was “To enable people in the Bradford District to connect with, access, develop, respect and celebrate a variety of cultural activity throughout their life”. Bradford’s cultural strategy also complimented the 2020 Vision Community Strategy and the ‘Big Plan’ of its Sustainable Community Strategy.

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – CULTURAL INFLUENCES

The City of Film vision is that by 2020 Bradford will have film at the heart of its development, identity and day to day life. There will be a buzz about film which touches all aspects of life in Bradford; local people, our institutions, employers, businesses, voluntary and community organisations and visitors.

The Regeneration Masterplan saw the Bowl as:

•Bradford’s showcase - the foyer to the City.•Generating participation and spectating, meeting and relaxing•Gathering place for Bradfordians to celebrate their new landscape

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – DESIGN CONSIDERATONS

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – DESIGN CONSIDERATIONS

At the point of the permanent commission artist shortlisting in summer 2009, the detail design for City Park was already set and commissions needed to be able to integrate without disrupting already well-established and costed design principles.

Evolution of the City Park Permanent commissions

Methods taken to engage the artists and the commissions

Other key projects to demonstrate different ways of engaging artists, methods of working and commission types

Mirror Pool City Park – Original Curatorial Strands

1. Hinterland: Urban Rural2. Mirror: Living Projections3. Source: Water of Life4. Beam: Arts of Place

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – CURATORIAL METHODS

1. Hinterland: Urban Rural

In the Preface to his book Socialism Over Sixty Years, J B Priestly observed about living in Bradford that “I grew up with two equally strong tastes: one for what is truly urban - for concerts and theatres and arts clubs and cafes to argue in; and the other for really grand, wild remote country, for salty winds, vast dark hills, stone walls vanishing into the clouds, springing larks and lonely curlews."

2. Mirror: Living Projections

David Hockney’s interest in mirrored light dates back to his LA series of swimming pool paintings from the late 60’s. His recent book Secret Knowledge was a practical and historical investigation into how artists from the 15th century onward produced vividly realistic perspective in drawings and paintings through what he called “living projections".

3. Source: Water of Life

Water has a central place in the symbolic practices and beliefs of many cultures and religions.Within Bradford, water as a metaphor is also picked up historically in the industrial importance of water to the Industrial Revolution; and in the link between the city and Nidderdale – whereBradford’s water sourced from Scarr House and Angram reservoirs over 100 years later stillflow by gravity along the 31 mile aqueduct to Heights Water Treatment Works to Bradford.

4. Beam: Arts of Place

A supporting tier of multi-disciplinary arts development that places the arts and local artists atthe centre of Bradford’s place-making and regeneration - supporting the permanent City Parkpublic art programme and linking in strategically to the developing City of Film

• 12 Enabling Commissions: Stage 1 artist short-listing commissions

• 3 Stage 2 artist design commissions

• 2 Flow permanent commissions by Wolfgang Buttress

• 1 Another Life permanent commission by Haque Research + Design

• 1 Soundpool permanent commission by Janek Schaefer & TMC

• 5 Arts of Place temporary commissions and associated programme

• Public Art Project Management & Facilitation

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – PUBLIC ART OUTPUTS

Artist Long-listing & Short-listing

12 artists and 3 reserves were short-listed from a total of 33 solicited artists interested in the 3 City Park permanent public art strands. These 12 artists were all commissioned to prepare for interview presentation of outline ideas. Their enabling commissioning comprised of:

Stage 1 – April 2009

•12 Short-listing Honorarium @ £1000 – 3 days paid each•Tender Interviews ( 3 strands x 4 artists to each strand)•Stage 2 Appointment Confirmed

Stage 2 – June 2009

•3 Design Fees @ £2500 – 7 days paid each•Stage 3 Appointments Negotiated

Stage 3 – May 2010

•Detailed Design Appointment confirmed and contracts signed

Bradford Mirror Pool City Park – PERMANENT COMMISSIONS

1. Flow - Play Sculptures & Columns – Wolfgang Buttress (Hinterland)

• Integrated public art programme – partnering with Gillespies• Commissions for Play Sculptures and Mirror Pool Columns• Integrated public art and sculptural commissions

Wolfgang Buttress – Public Artist www.wolfgangbuttress.com

2. Another Life – Haque Research + Design (Mirror)

• Interactive Animation of the Public Realm – Permanent and Festival / Temporary• Links to future City of Film commissions etc• Interactive Lighting, Live Arts and Media Based – linked to Media Pod by Sturgeon North

Usman Haque – Multimedia Artist / Architect www.haque.co.uk

3. Bradford Soundpool – Janek Schaefer (Source)

• Interaction with the water elements in particular – working with The Fountain Workshop• Links to Bradford’s water source in Nidderdale and wider environmental associations• Global cultural dimension explored• Audio Interactive – with critical cross-over linkage to the other commissions

Janek Schaefer - Sound Artist www.audiOh.com

Evolution of the City Park Permanent commissions

Methods taken to engage the artists and the commissions

Other key projects to demonstrate different ways of engaging artists, methods of working and commission types

Visioning Work in collaboration with artist Michael Trainor in 2005 on a draft design and feasibility for Eye Con - working with Taylor Young to develop concepts for a relocatable light and projection pod; a Festival of Moving Image for St Helens BC – 1 main lead artist commission to work alongside design team and client.

www.lookingforhelen.net

Other Atoll Projects – LEAD ARTIST COLLABORATION

Following collaboration with artist Dan Dubowitz on the Cultural Masterplan for Sunderland, work with Sunniside Partnership URC from 2007 to develop public realm strategy. First phase now ongoing with 4 artists - KAPOK (lighting), Bill Fontana (sound), SDNA TV (video projection) and Charlie Davidson (street furniture) - commissioned.

www.culturalmasterplan.org www.sunnisidepartnerhip.co.uk

Other Atoll Projects – DESIGN TEAM COLLABORATION

Design Team collaboration in 2008/09 with Landscape Architects Gillespies on Urban Design Guide and Public Realm Framework for Carlisle and Lancaster City Council – Artist commissioning briefs written-in to developing framework.

www.gillespies.co.uk

Other Atoll Projects – PUBLIC REALM FRAMEWORKS

Sustainable Art and Design in Public Realm strategy in 2010 prepared with Beam for Craven District Council – Ongoing artist support mechanism and funding opportunities to be developed out of ‘Section 106’ planning income generation from development projects.

http://sustainable-craven.blogspot.com

Other Atoll Projects – PUBLIC ART STRATEGY

Waterfront public art strategy prepared with Beam for Widnes Waterfront EDZ in 2007 – So far, 2 temporary and 1 permanent artist commission has been funded.

www.widneswaterfront.co.uk/

Other Atoll Projects – REGENERATION STRATEGY

Preston Cyclorama concept of a parks-based ‘community gateways’ linked via a ring of inner city cycleway along existing green corridors. Developed from 2008 as part of an overall public art and gateway strategy for Preston City Council - in the build up to the 2012 Preston Guild – Rolling programme of artist residencies hoped for ultimately.

www.preston-guild.co.uk

Other Atoll Projects – GATEWAY STRATEGY

Visioning Work completed 2008 in collaboration with masterplanners Taylor Young on the Cultural Masterplan for the Weaver Valley Regional Park - Follow-up work commissioned to develop 5 temporary artist commissions for both Weaver and Cheshire.

www.cheshire.gov.uk/wvrp www.weavervalley.org.uk

Other Atoll Projects – CULTURAL MASTERPLANNING

Design Team collaboration currently ongoing with Waring + Netts and ARTS UK on the interpretative public art strategy for the Wearmouth Jarrow Partnership World Heritage Bid - 4 solicited commissions initially created from short list to choose lead artist.

www.waring-netts.co.uk www.wearmouth-jarrow.org.uk

Other Atoll Projects – INTERPRETATION COLLABORATION

Facilitation for ACE WM on a 3-year public art and regeneration engagement pilot within the West Midlands between 2006 to 2009 – Supporting tier of 9 artists funded for workshop facilitation, along with general project enabling, support and advocacy

www.exploreinitiative.co.uk

Other Atoll Projects – CAPACITY BUILDING

Collaboration in 2009 on Hiddenplace with artist Noah Rose as Lead Artists for Burnley – a networking and temporary public art and local artists development festival created via Tesco and NWDA funding – 7 temporary artist commissions created over 1 month.

www.hiddenplace.org.uk

Other Atoll Projects – LOCAL ARTIST DEVELOPMENT

With Beam developed the £4.5 million public art funding plan for the Northern Way’s Welcome to the North public art strategy – 9 temporary and permanent artist commissions ultimately created

www.thenorthernway.co.uk

Other Atoll Projects – CULTURAL MARKETING & BRANDING