Seven local artists are
competing to have their work placed at the western entrance to Hartham using up
to £10,000 from the Section 106 money received from Sainsbury’s under the terms
of their planning permission.
The brief devised by East Herts
Council was to design an artwork that showed innovation and originality, while
also having reference to Hertford’s local environment and history.
The seven contenders are:
Angela Godfrey – four stainless steel screens 150cm high mounted on a
brick plinth and depicting the four rivers, the brewery and Hartham with its
wildlife, walks and sports.
Lee Simmons – a sculptural bench consisting of one horizontal and
two vertical interlocking discs cut to suggest the annual growth rings of a
tree, made of Cor-ten steel which would weather to shades of brown and orange.
Sarah Bracey – a 3m high four-sided arched brick structure with
moulded concrete panels depicting urban and rural aspects of Hertford.
Sarah Dilley – a sculpture resembling parts of a mill wheel, made
of steel which will weather to shades of brown resembling wood.
Leiselle Bristow and Karen
Murphy – a cut-metal and
kiln-fired glass see-through screen in the form of an ammonite spiral, rising
to 2m at the centre and depicting the work of Alfred Russel Wallace on
evolution and details of the history of Hertford. The installation would
include a rill and a seat and be paved with the bottoms of McMullen’s beer
bottles.
Maxine King – a 5m high steel rabbit weathered to brown, the title
‘Hops’ being a reference to the brewery, the historic function of the Warren
and the installation’s proximity to the children’s play area.
C. Parfitt – a ‘woodhenge’ in the form of a circle of wooden
posts up to 24m across with information on astronomical observations and
calculation of time and geographical direction.
The artists’ submissions were
on display in Hertford Theatre during the last week in July and members of the
public were invited to comment and to vote for their favourite designs. The
final decision will be made by the local arts forum the East Herts Centre for
Excellence and Innovation in the Arts and will be announced in the autumn
