Public realm artist for Gloucester's Kimbrose Way announced

22nd March 2010

Award-winning British artist, Tom Price, has been selected to design new
public artwork for Gloucester’s Kimbrose Way and Southgate Street.   His
initial ideas will go up on public view at Brunswick Baptist Church,
Southgate Street, Gloucester on Tuesday 30th March 2010 at 6.30 p.m.

Tom, who did a Fine Art Degree at Bath University and has a Masters from the
Royal College of Art, has won a number of awards over the last five years
and in 2007 he was commissioned to produce public art on the Metropolitan
Works building in London.   This stunning piece of public art was unveiled
in February last year.

The artist and Gloucestershire County Council are working in partnership
with the Gloucester Heritage Urban Regeneration Company (GHURC) to produce
artwork to enhance the area, which will become Kimbrose Square as part of
the new £multimillion Linkages project.  On completion, the new linkages
will dramatically improve the public spaces and streets between Gloucester
City Centre and Gloucester Quays drawing these key areas of the city
together for the first time in history.

The Linkages project, where the contractors are currently on site, will turn
the area from a run-down, little-visited area of the city into a vibrant
pedestrian thoroughfare   encouraging people to wander between The Quays and
the City Centre spending more time and money in the city and encouraging new
businesses to the area. 

On 30 March, the public will have the opportunity to meet Tom Price and view
his initial public art ideas for the site.  Visitors will also be able to
give their views on certain aspects of the scheme and learn in detail about
the whole Linkage project.

The other two piece of public art, to be located in Gloucester Docks, have
already been announced:  The Candle, an elegant and striking sculpture 22
metres high and designed by international sculptor Wolfgang Buttress will be
located within the Docks at the bottom of Kimbrose Steps, and a ground-level
artwork by Katayoun Dowlatshahi, who has a Doctorate from University of
Gloucestershire is currently being installed outside the Regimental Museum.
This artwork represents ships hulls and masts on the dockside, and is
designed to be viewed within the pavement in order that the northern end of
Victoria Dock can continue to be used for occasional outdoor events.
Shipbuilders and rigging company T Nielsen & Co, located in Gloucester Docks
is currently fabricating the timbers to be used in the art work.

Chris Oldershaw, Chief Executive of GHURC, said: “Based on his previous
designs, we are very excited to have appointed Tom Price and we are looking
forward to seeing his initial design ideas later this month.  This public
art, and the iconic Wolfgang Buttress sculpture, will become a draw in their
own right attracting visitors to the city and adding significantly to the
local economy.”

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, cabinet member for regeneration for Gloucestershire
County Council, said: “This is another exciting development in the
regeneration of Gloucester.

I would encourage everyone to come along to the public exhibition next week
and see Tom's creative ideas for the city.”

The Linkage work is being carried out in two sections the South West RDA
is delivering the Gloucester Docks section and Gloucestershire County
Council is delivering the Kimbrose Way, Commercial Road and Southgate Street
section, using RDA funding alongside funding from the County and City
Councils.  This area will become a versatile new shared space for traffic
and pedestrians.   Work on the Docks section has now started and is likely
to be completed by Autumn 2010.   Work on Kimbrose/Southgate Street section
is likely to be completed by the end of 2010.

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