Bondgate in Selby is a quiet park awaiting a new welcoming entrance gateway. Antonia Stowe has been appointed by Groundwork with Chris Campbell to design and fabricate the sculptural feature. Antonia has undertaken two community workshops and chosen a natural theme in keeping with the landscape. We are proposing over thirty casts to be included in the feature entrance and all artwork is currently being prepared for casting.
Installation is due September 2015
Paint Firing is not usually what you might expect in the middle of a shopping centre! The team of artists created amazing canvases helped by the shoppers of all ages. The event proved that noone felt they were too young or too old to pick up a paint firing gun! It was such fun, a bit messy and the results fantastic. Thanks to everyone who took part. The day was super colourful!
The Oakwell Hall feature gates are now installed. Oakwell Hall was built in 1853 and now sits in a vast country park. The feature gates mark the entrance to the heritage centre and display elements of the history of the site. Can you spot the Civil War sword, helment and mining objects, they are all there as cast reproductions on the gate! Thank you to everyone who contributed.
After a really successful Heritage day workshop I am starting to design the gates. With lovely casts and objects created by people who attended the event their responses to historic Oakwell Hall -1583 will be incorporated into the design. What I am looking for is civil war swords, helmets, miners helmets and lamps, tools etc. Any objects that relate to the history of Oakwell Hall and the historical layers of time. I have sourced a few things but really need to get the historical accuracy spot on.
Starting work on Oakwell Hall Gate commission soon and delighted to be working with the team again. The last work I did there was the design and implementation of the faith garden working with community groups. Again we will be working with the team and local groups and visitors to bring something very special to this historic site.
Bramley War Memorial unveiling ceremony took place on Monday 4th August 2014. This has been a wonderful commission to be involved with. The July installation went smoothly and to plan. Great work by Leeds City Council, local councillors and Friends of Bramley Memorial to make this happen. Certainly a memorial with depth and meaning to Bramley and the city.
On Wednesday 18th June 2014 , over a hundred people packed into the lecture theatre at the University of Huddersfield Business School to hear the announcement the 6 Million + Charitable Trust has been launched. With presentations by Tim Thornton, Pro Vice Chancellor, Kim Strickson Project Director and Chair of the Trustees Brian Cross the evening was a resounding success endorsed by the presence of the Chief Executive of Kirklees Council Adrian Lythgo and other councilors. A message of congratulations was read out from MP Jason McCartney congratulating the project and praised the work of the team and Antonia for the design of the memorial. Presentations of the design and technology were presented by Antonia and Chris Squire along with shared personal accounts reflecting the realities of intolerance around the world. Kirklees is proud to be spearheading this ambitious project and the communities that contributed to the evening shared a common goal. That goal is to teach our children, build our communities to join together and prevent extremism, promote tolerance and support one another to do that.
Delighted to announce the Bank Street Gate for Trinity Leeds has been installed. Artist Ian Judd worked with Antonia to design and fabricate this 3.2m (height) x 3.8m (width) gateway. Ian is a sculptor who lives in Leeds and expresses through this artwork how diverse and fascinating the city is. With such a rich heritage and vibrant city life Ian’s design aims to include the most important elements of Leeds balanced against the physical constraints of the project. Ian wanted to make something specifically about Leeds and contribute to Leeds’ already impressive collection of public art and working with a tradional drawing technique combined with the latest technology his gate is elegant, functional and fitting for this space.
6 Million + Buttons Holocaust Memorial Sculpture Huddersfield– January 2014
Antonia is currently undertaking a very exciting and challenging commission. In January 2014 at Huddersfield Town Hall Kim Strickson the project director for 6 Million + announced that after 6 years of touring the country the installation of over 6 million buttons all donated by people in Huddersfield, regionally and internationally will be created into a permanent Holocaust Memorial Sculpture at the University of Huddersfield. The announcement was broadcast on BBC and ITV networks and I had the privilege to unveil the design concept for this sculptural memorial. This is the first Holocaust memorial in the North of England and has been designed by myself during a 6 month consultation programme with over 20 different groups and organisations. More can be found on http://www.6millionplus.org
Graffiti Live Event – February 2014
An old battered car becomes part of a stage set located above Apple in Trinity Leeds. The backdrop is the Trinity Leeds Shopping centre and the set is a strange mix of boards, street scene and it is all painted white. For one week only the set remains the same. Then one Saturday a squat team of graffiti artists led by Leeds’ very own BRETSKI descends to blast the scene with colour. Taking requests from customers and the general public the whole scene changes from hour to hour. At the end of a fantastic day the creation is left as an exhibit for two weeks. The car is then taken away and crushed to become a seat in Trinity Kitchen.
The car has been driven over 100.000 miles and its final destination is Trinity Kitchen in Trinity Leeds for all to sit on! Created by Antonia Stowe Art Facilitator for Trinity Leeds.
