MAKING A CREATIVE APPROACH
Building culture into the very foundations of major developments in Lancashire can maximise its regenerative power. And the county has the wealth of heritage, confidence and skills to do that, leading creative artists told the conference.
Lancashire-based Jamie Holman and Charles Hadcock spoke about the huge benefits of creativity when it comes to the built environment and how developers should not be afraid of art, but instead exploit it to add prestige to their projects and give a sense of ownership to the community.
Sculptor Charles, a Deputy Lord Lieutenant of Lancashire who has worked on major schemes such as the regeneration of Canary Wharf, told the Built Environment Conference that he had moved to the county to be closer to his supply chain and the skills needed to create his works.
He said that developers could use art as part of the Section 106 agreement process in planning to mitigate the effects of a development on an area. He said: “I have worked with some of the leading developers across the country and very often they see a 106 agreement as a form of tax rather than an asset to exploit.
Charles Hadcock
Charles Hadcock, who in 2007 received the Queen’s Award for Enterprise Promotion and who is chairman of the Leyland Town Deal, said the county was the ideal place for built environment art.
He said: “I moved to Lancashire in 1999 to be closer to my supply chain. Lancashire has everything I need to create monumental sculpture that goes around the world.
“For example, a piece that I sent to Athens during the lockdown involved 30 different trades, all here in Lancashire. I absolutely adore the ambition and the skillset that we have throughout the county.
“One of the best examples of using art in the levelling up agenda is Canary Wharf, the Docklands Development Corporation.
The relationship between
built environment and culture is one of confidence
Jamie Holman
“They don’t realise the value that a public realm piece of art as part of a 106 agreement can offer. Businesses should give respect to artists. They build the buildings we’ll handle the art.
“We are the professionals, we have trained for seven years just like an architect and can produce work that can introduce a variety of interactions, whether it’s a stand-alone piece of sculpture or a happening, and it should not be seen as woolly.”
Jamie from Uncultured Creatives, who created the Lancashire Tapestry for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and is chair of the Lancashire-based National Festival of Making, said art, culture and business should be intrinsically linked.
He said: “The relationship between built environment and culture is one of confidence. You have to have confidence in culture. I am interested in the impact that culture has on place. In terms of defining it, in terms of reimagining what it could be.
“And in the work that I do, particularly around the National Festival of Making, we talk a lot about the understanding of who we have been, who we are now and who we may yet become, which is key to that local agenda. Culture actually makes place.”
“They had always infused culture and art. They have the largest collection of public art out there. They have an outdoor arena where they put on concerts, sport, and art. It is a real signature of how successful Canary Wharf is. It has become like Chicago, which has a fantastic arts scene.
“I have a photograph of one of my sculptures at Canary Wharf with nearly a thousand people having their lunch around it, living with the art, making a sense of place, really developing that whole sense of levelling up right from start to finish.”
Jamie Holman, who is also a contributing editor of the Saatchi Gallery Magazine, said the benefits could be financial as well as social. He said: “Culture is key not only to solving issues around cohesion and wellbeing but also improving the state of the towns people live in.
“It brings people together. Culture has an impact on health, wealth and the future innovation we look for in a place. The buildings are not the place, the people that use them make the place and artists facilitate that.
“If you look at the regeneration that’s happened to heritage buildings in places like Blackburn and Morecambe, which has come from arts funding, it has reimagined building and brought huge footfall to town centres.
“The Festival of Making brings 40-50,000 people to Blackburn town centre over a weekend. Fifty per cent are from outside the county. The vintage festival in Morecambe is the same. The financial impact of really low investment in art and culture is huge.”
LANCASHIREBUSINESSVIEW.CO.UK
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BUILT ENVIRONMENT
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