St Helens selected for Big Art

ST.HELENS SELECTED FOR CHANNEL 4 “BIG ART”

The former Sutton Manor Colliery site in St.Helens, Merseyside will become home to a “Big Art” project as part of a major new television series to be screened in April 2008.

Channel 4's Big Art Project is the UK’s biggest ever public art commissioning scheme, with over 1,400 sites across the country having being nominated by members of the public. Having made the 12-strong shortlist, the St.Helens site narrowly missed out on becoming one of the six initial locations announced earlier this year.

Inspired and undaunted, local nominators continued to develop their ideas for delivering a landmark piece of new public art in St.Helens anyway, while levering in additional funding and building a positive dialogue with Liverpool Biennial. These efforts and continuing local commitment were enough to convince the Big Art Trust, the Project’s governing body, to review its decision and include the St.Helens site after all.

Sutton Manor itself has important local cultural resonance as a former colliery that employed more than 1,600 people in its heyday, before closing in 1991. The site also enjoys a strategic location at the gateway to Merseyside and Liverpool - Europe’s 2008 Capital of Culture - near Junction 7 of the M62, and is visible for miles around, offering an excellent vantage point for seeing Manchester, the Pennines, Derbyshire, Cheshire, and the Welsh Hills.

The intention is for the artwork to symbolise the positive post-industrial and cultural transformation that St.Helens has undergone in recent years - built on a long, proud heritage, fuelled by a spirit of innovation, and signalling a promising future. As with all the Big Art sites, the whole process from project development, artist selection, commissioning, and production, to ultimate unveiling in 2008, will be documented by independent production company Carbon Media on behalf of Channel 4. The focus throughout will be on the local community and the former miners who helped nominate the Sutton Manor site in the first place.

Peter Jenkinson, founding director of the Walsall Art Galleryand Big Art advisory team member said

“Big Art is a massively exciting initiative, that combines the creation of major new public art by renowned international artists at select locations throughout the UK, with direct community involvement. Public art can transform a space into a place, and as the process unfolds, the aim is for the Big Art Project to catalyse a national debate about the impact of art on the lives of people in their communities.

The enthusiasm and humour of the former miners we have already interviewed at Sutton Manor will certainly make for engaging television. The St.Helens project is a worthy addition to the series, and we have no doubt that it can be delivered due to the dedication and commitment of all those involved”.

St.Helens Council Leader Brian Spencer comments:

“Being selected for the Channel 4 Big Art television series is fantastic news for St. Helens. Thanks to our excellent location between Liverpool and Manchester at the heart of the regional motorway network, this landmark new artwork will act as a beacon for Merseyside and the North West that will quite literally put St. Helens on the map.

As not just the Leader of the Council but also as someone who used to work at Sutton Manor myself, I am positive that this initiative will serve as a fitting tribute to the pride, industry, and adaptability of the miners formerly employed at the colliery, as well as to the spirit and vitality of the local community as a whole. Attracting new investment and visitors is at the heart of our ambitious economic development agenda, and showcasing St.Helens’ impressive renaissance on national television will certainly help achieve this ”.

Lewis Biggs, Chief Executive of Liverpool Biennial added:

“Liverpool Biennial has a wealth of expertise and experience in managing major public art initiatives and we are delighted at the prospect of working in partnership with St.Helens Council and Channel 4 to help manage and deliver this Big Art project. Given its location and heritage, this certainly has the potential to be both iconic and transformational, and to leave a lasting legacy for St.Helens and the rest of Merseyside, not least in terms of community engagement. The timing is also ideal – with the scheduled unveiling of the artworks and screening of the TV series during Liverpool’s year as European Capital of Culture in 2008 when the next Biennial will also be coming to Merseyside”.