all materials / designer

This striking bespoke bench is a collaboration between artist blacksmith and sculptor Andrew Rowe and light artist Simon Fenoulhet.

Cardiff County Council commissioned the two artists to create the sculptural seating as part of the improvement of Delta Street - a key priority within the Cowbridge Road East Regeneration Strategy. The scheme reclaimed an area of highway to create new pedestrian public space at the heart of the busy shopping area of Canton. As well as designing a bespoke bench the artists also collaborated with the scheme engineer and planning officer on the overall shape of the space and location of trees. This was not a straightforward task since there are a number of services below the site including a gas pipe.

The bench itself is shaped like a small and a large ‘C’ interlocking. This shape is designed to allow groups of people to sit together in a more sociable way than is possible with a standard bench design. The two ‘C’ shapes are cantilevered from the central point and seem to hover over the pavement. At night, hidden lighting within the bench gives it a new lease of life, enhancing its shape and creating an attractive ambience for the night-time economy of Cowbridge Road East.

Delta Street is now a natural focal point along Cowbridge Road East and a popular resting place for shoppers and those on their lunch break!

press coverage:
http://www.welshicons.org.uk/news/cardiff/delta-street-regeneration/

This colourful painting scheme is the design of artist Andrew Smith, an abstract painter based in North Wales.

The railway bridge parapet had fallen into disrepair, with rust patches and flaking paint, giving a negative impression of the area. However, the plans to re-paint it were the final part of the Splott Road Neighbourhood Renewal Scheme (NRS), which has entailed a variety of improvements including the replacement of solid, grey shop shutters, new bins, cycle stands, and bollards, and brighter lighting. During public consultation, re-painting the bridge was one of the most popular aspects of the renewal scheme.

Celfwaith was approached in September 2009 to advise on how an artist might work on the scheme and offered various options for the artist selection process. Given that the funding for the scheme was limited to the financial year, and also given that Network Rail had a list of preferred painting contractors, it was decided that an artist would be appointed on a design only basis with a supervisory rather than active role in the implementation.

A design would be needed that would be simple enough to be carried out by painting contractors and which would also be cost effective to maintain. A limited palette of five colours was decided on and a brief was prepared aimed at artists whose practice involved flat areas of colour and simple forms.

Andrew Smith was appointed based on his bold use of colour and his ability to transform figurative motifs from his surroundings such as architectural details, or a view on the horizon, into abstract forms in his work. Local school pupils took part in a photography workshop to take photographs of their area which were used by Andrew to inform his design.

The result is a bright, dynamic and abstract design which references design motifs in the railings, porch tiles, and brickwork of houses in Splott as well as shapes that can be seen in the industrial area south of Splott.

media coverage:
http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2010/04/19/if-a-job-s-worth...

This public art strategy was commissioned by the Rhondda Powerhouse Trust as part of a wider restoration project which aims to both preserve the fabric of the building, create a new interior and secure the building’s future with sustainable uses.

Through site-visits and research, consultation with the architects, Trustees and other stakeholders, we developed the strategy which describes a number of ways in which artists can contribute to the Powerhouse to enhance its appearance and to add crafted detail to its already distinctive shell. The overall aim is for commissioned artworks to become a functioning part of the building and add to the visitors’ pleasure as well as their understanding of the Powerhouse and its history.

The Powerhouse drove the pumps for the Glamorgan Colliery which was the largest and most profitable pit in the Rhondda Valley with its rich seams of steam coal. In 1910 an event happened which guaranteed the Powerhouse’s place in history - it was the site of the Tonypandy riots.

All other traces of the Glamorgan Colliery have gone, but the Grade II Listed Powerhouse remains. Built in 1905, the architectural style is reminiscent of a Welsh Chapel, and the ceiling height inside is cathedral-like with the bow-trussed travelling crane, bearing the name ‘J Booth & Bros Ltd, Engineers Rodney nr Leeds’ still intact. It now stands as a powerful reminder not only of the coal mining industry, of which there are many other structures in South Wales, but of democratic empowerment, the power of the people in acting collectively.

The Rhondda Powerhouse Trust was set up in 2006 to restore the building and bring it into the 21st century for the benefit of the whole community.

The SA1 Swansea Waterfront is a bold and innovative scheme to transform a post-industrial brownfield site into a vibrant mixed-use development of business, residential, retail and leisure offer. As part of the re-building and re-branding of the site, Celfwaith were commissioned in October 2008 by the City and County of Swansea and WAG to prepare a public art strategy for SA1.

The public art proposals we developed in the strategy are intended to support the branding of SA1 as an innovative, contemporary and dynamic destination, making it more attractive for potential investors and residents, as well as the current population of Swansea. The proposals are designed to encourage exploration of the whole site and to be engaging and interactive, creating memorable experiences that people want to return to.

In preparing the proposals we consulted with the visual arts sector in Swansea and where appropriate suggested ways in which to involve them or partner with them on certain projects. Swansea is fortunate to have a thriving arts sector and an international reputation for architectural glass, which SA1 is in a strong position to now capitalise upon. At the same time, some of the public art projects will attract internationally recognised artists.

The strategy was completed in April 2009 and later in the year Celfwaith were asked to begin implementing the strategy proposals. The first project to be taken forward in 2010 is an artist designed lighting scheme for Ice House Square.

The vision for this project was to create a new park with a variety of play facilities out of an empty, flat field. Artist Andrew Small was selected to collaborate with landscape architect Ian Maddox on the overall design of the park and to create bespoke play structures.

Background

In October 2006, a report ‘Opportunities for Public Art in Adamsdown’ was commissioned by Cardiff Council to identify opportunities for public art in Adamsdown. Consultation was carried out with the local people of Adamsdown over a three month period and the report identified particular sites and themes for public art, which included suggestions that:

• The work should be uniquely created for the area
• The work, no matter what format it takes, should endeavour to be interactive in some way e.g. kinetic art, tactile art, evolving or changing work
• It should not be a traditional image of public art i.e. Bronze figures/statues like in Queens Street
• The work should challenge or push the viewer, and not be afraid to make a statement
• Sufficient time is taken in the development process of artwork to ensure that the community can build a sense of ownership towards it.

Project

In the summer of 2007 Cardiff County Council embarked on a project to transform an empty field in Adamsdown into a valuable amenity for the local community.

Artist Andrew Small was appointed to collaborate with landscape architect Ian Maddox on the overall design of the new park. Their task was to make the flat open space, used primarily by dog walkers and rarely used by children to play, into a flexible park and play area. The Council held a number of consultation events to find out what the local community wanted and did not want within the scheme.

Among other needs and constraints, Andrew Small and Ian Maddox aimed to create:

• sheltered spaces, since the field was windswept at times
• a designated space for children to play, where dog walkers would not go
• a defined ‘kick about’ area which allowed enough space for a game of football but which could also be safely walked around by others using the park
• creative play equipment aimed at a younger age group (11 and under)
• pathways and seating so that the whole of the space would be used
The result is a park with three main areas:
1. a defined play area at the front (along Constellation Road) with play structures designed and made by Andrew Small on a child safe surface;
2. a kick about area in the middle of the field with low mounding around it on both sides to define the space and protect people walking along the path from finding themselves in the middle of a game!
3. A less formal play area at the back of the field with a high mound incorporating a slide and other structures around it for climbing, swinging and jumping off.

Having developed a number of concept designs for various play structures, Andrew Small was commissioned to create two of them and consulted with a Health and Safety specialist at the detailed design stage. Andrew then fabricated these two structures which he called the Spending Time Machine and the Triphid. The Spending Time Machine is a curved wooden platform with a series of stainless steel arches above it as a roof. Children climb inside it and on top of it, and slide and run up and down the curved surface. It can be anything they want it to be – a space ship, a boat, a house, a den, a tunnel, a submarine, a cave and so on. It is a structure which allows their imagination free rein.

The Triphid is a climbing and balancing structure in galvanised steel, painted a deep blue. The tentacles can be climbed, swung on, walked along, and the soft ‘wet pour’ surface on the ground ensures that children can be more adventurous and risk falling off. The coloured patterns on the soft surface complement the Triphid and can form part of its use in a game.

These days, at the time when the school day has just finished you’ll see many children making full use of Anderson Field, whereas before the park was created, it would have been an empty site.

read more at
http://www.andrewsmall.org.uk/Andrew_Small/Blog/Entries/2010/3/14_Anders...

This public art project is the first of many to be commissioned for Barry Town Centre in the next few years as part of the ongoing regeneration of the town centre. A transformation has already taken place with the refurbishment of the Town Hall, King Square and Central Park - the first phase of regeneration work.

A public art strategy for Barry Town Centre was completed by Celfwaith in the summer of 2007 and this paving art project is the first public art project to be implemented from the strategy. The second phase of regeneration was to widen the pavements of Holton Road and install new street furniture to give more priority to the pedestrian.

There are 120 paving slabs with art designs integrated into the pavement along Holton Road, located at the junction points. Artists Heather Parnell, David Mackie and Andrew Rowe developed the theme for the artwork with children from two local Schools - Holton Rd Primary and St Helen's RC Junior Schools. Shops past and present and the types of wares shown in window displays were researched and children drew objects they imagined would be sold at chemists, toy shops, green grocers, hardware stores, confectioners, stationers and haberdashery shops.

The artists created the final designs, which have an almost trompe l'oeil effect, to look like shopping bags dropped on the floor with the contents falling out scattered across the pavement. The designs were etched into the paving slabs and filled in with a tough charcoal coloured paint to look literally like pencil drawings on the pavement. Within each design there is also an item in bronze relief such as a pencil, an orange or biscuits, to add colour and shine.