River Ness Public Art moves forward
Artists have been invited to submit proposals for the new ‘Gathering Place’ public art project and the Evaluation Panel will meet next month to select one of the proposals to recommend to the Inverness City Arts Working Group.
The artwork will be developed through a co-curation process in which the chosen artist will work closely with community groups, local businesses and other stakeholders to develop a final design concept.
The River Ness Public Art project has won the continued support of the funders and the City of Inverness Area Committee, which means that the new Gathering Place and the other artworks can continue to move forward.
Provost of Inverness, Helen Carmichael, Co-chair of the Working Group said: “We are looking forward to this next stage in the development of the new ‘Gathering Place’. The principle of community involvement and partnership in the project, aims to ensure that the artwork will be both ambitious and supported by communities in Inverness. This process will bring different groups together in order to jointly develop the concept and therefore, I hope, will result in a valued artwork which will form a centrepiece attraction for the city.”
Meanwhile, the first commission of the River Ness Public Art project, ‘River Connections’, is nearing completion. The final part of the artwork, which comprises new seating in the alcoves in Bank Street, is currently being installed. They complement the poetry by Ken Cockburn, composed for the plaques on the river wall, and have been created by artist Mary Bourne from Caithness slate, supported by drystone dyking. The pattern of shapes represents the small lochans and tributaries which run into the River Ness.
The Sculptural Destination by artist Annie Cattrell will create an iconic landmark entitled ‘Seer’ at Friar’s Shott. Informed by forecasting and belief systems of the past to attempt to determine the future, the artist will create a sculpture which echoes the ‘seeing stones’ of myth and legend. In this case, if you stand between the stones you may or may not get a glimpse of the future, but you will certainly get a wonderful view of the city. The site is significant in this context of cultural belief and prediction - beside a bridge and at the river. The ‘stones’ will be created of resin, cast from each side of the Great Glen geological fault along which the River Ness runs. The resin will be infused with bronze powder which will glow in the sunlight. A ‘Meet the Artist’ event will take place for Annie Cattrell to share her proposed designs with community as the project develops.
Artists, ‘Dress for the Weather’, will soon be installing ‘Rest Spaces’. These are three smaller installations sited on Bank Street and Huntly Street. Each one will based on a different way to view the river - to perch for a moment in passing; to linger and take in the views, or to get a closer look and discover more about the river.
The Trail, also by ‘Dress for the Weather’ is a project to map the river, in which the artists will gather local information, including suggestions from the community for a paper map and website to be accessed by mobile phone.
Artists ‘Bespoke Atelier’ and ‘Erz’ have recently been appointed to work with art students from the University of the Highlands and Islands and school pupils to create a Children’s Water Feature, designs for which will be informed by young people for young people.
Cllr Thomas Prag, Co-chair of the Working Group said: “This is an exciting time for the project as we begin to see some of the projects taking shape after all the consultation and back room work by the artists. The flood defence works have been widely praised already – this is the icing on the cake!”