Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
University of Derby
Chesterfield Art Trail
Official launch 2013
60 web pages and Online Catalogue
This scholarly catalogue of sixty contemporary works of public art in the Borough of Chesterfield takes the form of an online ‘art trail’. While the Borough Council has established the website infrastructure, introductory texts, detailed maps and high quality photographs, the author is entirely responsible for all of the catalogue entries, amounting to at least 20,000 words (individual entries vary from 200 to 400 words). The author was commissioned to undertake this innovative project on the basis of his longstanding expertise in public art and, more particularly, his ongoing research into the public sculpture of Derbyshire for the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association’s National Recording Project (for future publication by Liverpool University Press).
The catalogue entries provide informative descriptions and analyses of the artworks commissioned through the Borough Council’s Per Cent for Art scheme (since 1994). They provide extensive information about the subject, date, form, material, size, siting and funding source of each artwork, together with critical interpretation and contextual analysis. They are based on first-hand knowledge of the artworks and study of the Council’s archival records and published sources on the artists and their other works. Each entry includes references to other artworks in the borough made by the same artist or inspired by the same subject, and to any other works commissioned for the same site.
The Trail offers a model for the scholarly and critical documentation and interpretation of public art. As Chesterfield’s award-winning public art programme becomes better known, the catalogue is likely to be used by a wide range of interested professionals, including artists, architects, urban planners, policy-makers, art historians and social historians. Links to the Trail are to be placed on relevant websites, including those of internationally recognised artists who have artworks in the borough, such as Barbara Hepworth, Angela Conner and David Mach.
