Coldstones Cut by Andrew Sabin, winner of the Marsh Award 2011 (© Photograph by Paul Harris)

The Public Sculpture of Bristol by Douglas Merritt, Francis Greenacre and Katharine Eustace

Katharine Fritsch's Hahn/Cock (Image credit: James O Jenkins)

Elmgreen and Dragset's Powerless Structures (Image credit: James O Jenkins

'Lion' by Kendra Haste

Wellington Monument, Wellington, Somerset

Ronald Pope, sculptor and artist (1920-1997)

The Flower and the Green Leaf:
Glasgow School of Art in the Time of Charles Rennie Mackintosh ,
edited by Ray McKenzie

Tidal bell, brainchild of sculptor Marcus Vergette

New book by Rupert Hill published by New Holland Publishers

The definitive series on the sculpture of Anthony Caro
Five new volumes from Lund Humphries

For the News and Events Archive 2010, click here

For the News and Events Archive 2009, click here

New website coming soon

While it may seem there has been little activity in the past year, we have been busy working on various projects. The most important is we are creating a new website, which will launch in the coming months.

The website will have a new visual look, be easier to navigate, will include a blog allowing you to tell us and others what your interests are and what’s new in public sculpture, and the National Sculpture Database is being re-designed to allow searches to be made.

We are pleased to announce this year’s winner of The Marsh Award for Excellence in Public Sculpture 2011 is Andrew Sabin for Coldstones Cut.

To read more about the project visit the Coldstones Cut website http://thecoldstonescut.org/

To read more about Andrew Sabin please visit his website http://www.andrewsabin.org/

This year the judges have also decided to award a special commendation to Harlow Art Trust for its work in promoting sculpture in Harlow. To read more about Harlow Art Trust and their work visit their website http://www.harlowarttrust.org.uk/

The Marsh Award, generously supported by B.P Marsh and administered by the PMSA, is presented for excellence in contemporary work, and also for distinction in restoration of historical works. More information is available from the Marsh pages of the PMSA website.

Liverpool University Press and the PMSA are delighted to announce the launch of the latest volume in the National Recording Project series, The Public Sculpture of Bristol.

Bristol has an abundance of fine public sculpture adorning its streets, buildings, parks and squares reflecting the city's rich history.

This volume offers a comprehensive review of the history of public sculpture in Bristol over the last 800 years, with a detailed catalogue of over 200 works and over 400 illustrations. The wealth of information that this volume makes conveniently available for the first time will enable Bristol to plan for the care and conservation of this unique heritage.

The Public Sculpture of Bristol by Douglas Merritt, Francis Greenacre and Katharine Eustace will be launched at the City Museum and Art Gallery, Bristol on Wednesday 19th January 6.00-8.00 pm in the presence of the Rt. Hon Lord Mayor of Bristol Councillor Colin Smith.

This book is available to PMSA members at a discounted price of £20.00

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson has announced the works selected to occupy the Fourth Plinth in Trafalgar Square.

Elmgreen and Dragset's Powerless Structures, a bronze sculpture of a boy on a rocking horse, will be unveiled in 2012 while Fritsch's Hahn/ Cock, a giant cockerel in ultramarine blue will grace the plinth in 2013.

The works were selected following extensive public consultation which saw 17,000 people comment on the shortlisted proposals displayed in St Martins' in the Fields.

Both commissions, the work of distinguished international artists, cement the importance of the Fourth Plinth as Britain's most significant public art commission.

For more information visit http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/

Following eight years of campaigning by the Victorian Society a newly restored Statue of Edward VII has been returned to Birmingham City Centre.

Erected in 1913 by the people of Birmingham and designed by the sculptor Alfred Toft, the statue recently endured years of neglect and vandalism.

It will be unveiled by the Prince of Wales in early 2011.

22nd January- 07th April 2011

In 2011, the Royal Academy of Arts will be presenting the first exhibition for 30 years to examine British sculpture of the twentieth century. The show will represent a unique view of the development of British sculpture, exploring what we mean by the terms British and sculpture by bringing the two together in a chronological series of strongly themed galleries, each making its own visual argument.

Key works include: Alfred Gilbert Queen Victoria, Phillip King Genghis Khan, Jacob Epstein Adam, Barbara Hepworth Single Form, Leon Underwood Totem to the Artist, Henry Moore Festival Figure, Anthony Caro Early One Morning, Richard Long Chalk Line, and Damien Hirst Let's Eat Outdoors Today.

For more information visit the Royal Academy of Arts website http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/exhibitions/modernbritishsculpture/

Victoria and Albert Museum

25 February- 26 February 2011

This forthcoming conference will disseminate the findings of the Mapping Sculpture research project, a collaborative venture between the University of Glasgow, the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Henry Moore Institute.

The Mapping Sculpture project is the first comprehensive study of sculptors, related businesses and trades investigated in the context of creative collaborations, art infrastructures, professional networks and cultural geographies.

For further details and to book tickets, please see the V&A website

Henry Moore Institute, Leeds

17th - 18th February 2011

One and a half day conference engaging with questions of Britishness and Sculpture.

Speakers include Jonathan Black (University of Kingston), Alex Potts (University of Michigan and Joy Sleeman (Slade School of Art).

See website for further details: http://www.henry-moore.org/hmi/research/research-events/the-new-british-sculpture

A sculpture by the artist Jaume Plensa has been selected for the prestigious Hussey Memorial Commission for Chichester Cathedral.

The sculpture, in the form of the hand of the resurrected Christ composed of a cloud of letters from eight ancient alphabets, revitalises Chichester Cathedral's reputation as a bold patron of contemporary art within an ancient setting.

There is currently an exhibition explaining the commission on display in the Cathedral.

The commission launched in 2009 was timed to mark the centenary of Walter Hussey, Dean of Chichester 1955-1977, who commissioned many of the Cathedral's twentieth century artworks.

Jaume Plausa's Dream was awarded the Marsh Award for Excellence in Contemporary Sculpture in 2009.

Chichester Cathedral is open every day and entry is free. See the website http://www.chichestercathedral.org.uk for more details.

Professional Training In The Historic Environment 2010/11

In partnership with English Heritage, a wide range of courses are being run at the Oxford University Department For Continuing Education. If you are interested in attending, please click here to download further details.

Special offer for PMSA members
The Flower and the Green Leaf: Glasgow School of Art in the Time of Charles Rennie Mackintosh ,
edited by Ray McKenzie, Luath Press, Edinburgh, 2009.

Glasgow School of Art is known the world over for the pivotal part it played in the creation of the ‘Glasgow Style' and for the radical originality of the building it commissioned from Charles Rennie Mackintosh in 1897. But while the building itself – known universally as ‘Mackintosh's Masterwork' – has been examined and analysed in a multitude of publications, very little attention has so far been paid to the activities that went on within it. In setting out to fill this major gap, The Flower and the Green Leaf reveals the centrality of sculpture in the development of the School's innovative curriculum. The work of the Department of Modelling and Sculpture is explored in detail in a special chapter by the book's editor, Ray McKenzie, who unravels the complex web of pedagogic, creative and professional relations that evolved between the cohorts of teachers and students who had the good fortune to be the first to work in Mackintosh's splendid new studios. It throws fresh light on the teaching practices and career paths of local sculptors such as Johann Keller, Albert Hodge and Alexander Proudfoot, while providing new insights into the formative experiences of sculptors who went on to achieve major national reputations, such as William Reid Dick and George Alexander. It also reveals the crucial support the Department received throughout its early years by many London- well as international figures such as the Belgian Charles Vanderstappen, and Paul Wayland Bartlett from the USA. All this is set within the wider pedagogical framework of the School as a whole in a study that will be of interest to anybody concerned with the development of British sculpture in the early twentieth century, and the educational values in which it was grounded.

Hardback £25, ISBN: 978-1-906817-26-8; paperback £15, ISBN 978-1-906817-27-5
Copies are available for PMSA members at the special discount price of £20 (hardback) and £13 (paperback) from:
Luath Press Ltd, 543/2 Castlehill, The Royal Mile, Edinburgh EH1 2 ND , tel +44 (0)131 225 4326
P & P is free for UK orders; overseas, please add £3.50. Please mark your envelope ‘PMSA OFFER' when sending your remittance.

New bell rings in rising sea levels
A unique tidal bell, brainchild of sculptor Marcus Vergette, is to be placed on the banks of the Thames at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, opposite the O2 Arena, on Sunday 19 September

The huge double bell, part of Marcus's Time and Tide series, will lie near the Prime Meridian at 0? longitude. Fixed in position on the sea wall, it will be rung by the sea at each high tide. As sea level rises with climate change the bell will ring more often and at different stages of the tide. Marcus says “Fixed in space, rung by the power of nature, yet making ever-changing sounds, the bell symbolizes the complex relationship between man and his environment. The Time and Tide Bell creates, celebrates and reinforces connections between our history and our environment. Here at Trinity Buoy Ward in Leamouth it will serve as a powerful marker of sea level rise at the very heart of our maritime history”. The eye-catching bell, which stands 3m high, is based on a new and highly original design developed by Marcus and Dr Neil McLachlan. Uniquely, from just one strike, the bell sounds different notes one after the other to form a rich melody. The Trinity Buoy Wharf bell is the third in a planned series of 12 bells at widespread locations throughout the UK. The first bell has been installed at Appledore in north Devon, a place of ship yards and extreme tidal ranges, and the second in a remote and beautiful bay off Great Bernera in the Outer Hebrides where Vikings once landed. The fourth bell will be erected in spring 2011 at Aberdyfi, Wales, on the estuary of the historic river Dovey, and the fifth is planned for the rapidly eroding coastline at Orford Ness on the Suffolk coast.
Marcus, sculptor, jazz musician and farmer, lived and trained in London for many years. He now lives on a remote farm in rural Devon. Neil McLachlan is a Senior Research Associate in the School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, Melbourne, Australia. He specializes in design engineering.
The launch will be at Trinity Buoy Wharf, London, E14 0JW, on 19 September 2010. For further information, to hear the bell and view a video, go to: http://www.marcusvergette.co.uk/bell.htm

Westminster: A City of Sculpture

Following the announcement of an exciting new City of Sculpture festival for Westminster, leading up to the 2012 Olympics, there has been substantial interest from galleries and private collectors keen to place sculptures on display in the city's public realm. The first of many unveilings will be taking place at an official launch in early September. These will then continue as part of a rolling programme leading up to and including the Summer Olympics. Walking and visitor tours of the new sites will then be produced to promote awareness of the scheme, increase public awareness of Westminster's historic public realm and encourage healthy exercise.

Further details of the scheme can be obtained from Toby Cuthbertson, Design and Conservation Officer on 0207 641 8705 or via email at tcuthbertson@westminster.gov.uk

Access to Art Colleges

The AA2A project offers artists & designer / makers the opportunity to undertake a period of research or realise a project using art college facilities eg. workshops, IT facilities, lending library, & lecture programme. AA2A schemes aim to benefit students and Colleges through their interaction with practising artists. For full eligibility criteria and details of how to apply, go to: http://www.aa2a.org

Access is free, for at least 100 hours, between October 2010 and April 2011 and a materials/travel grant of £220 is usually available . Closing dates for applications vary but all are in September 2010. Applicants must have at least one year's professional practice and should be able to work with minimal technical support . Artists on AA2A schemes run from 2007 to 2008 or before can now reapply. AA2A particularly welcomes applications from applicants with disabilities, from culturally diverse backgrounds and non-graduates.

Patrick Davies Contemporary Art is pleased to announce that sculptor Kendra Haste has been awarded a monumental commission by Historic Royal Palaces.

The artist will fabricate thirteen sculptures as part of an exhibition exploring the history of the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London. Made from galvanised wire, life-size lions, baboons, a polar bear and an elephant will help tell the story of the exotic animals that were a popular tourist attraction at the Tower from the 1100s. In 1832, the remaining animals from the Menagerie were moved to Regents Park to help establish London Zoo. The commission will include one of the most famous Tower 'inmates', a polar bear whose collar and chain allowed it to fish for food in the Thames without escaping. Accompanied by multi-media, the exhibition entitled 'Royal Beasts' will be the first of its kind devoted to the Royal Menagerie. It is scheduled to open at the Tower of London, a World Heritage Site, in May 2011.

For further information about Kendra Haste please visit www.kendrahaste.co.uk
For information about Royal Historic Palaces please visit www.hrp.org.uk

The gallery currently has two sculptures by the artist for sale, a hanuman monkey and a female baboon. For more details please contact Patrick Davies - patrickdavies@patrickdaviesca.com

Monument to the Great Fire of London wins the annual City Heritage Award

This prestigious award, now over 30 years old, is given each year to the best refurbishment project in the City. Previous winners include; St Paul's Cathedral, Temple Bar and St Bartholomew's Hospital West Wing. The City of London Corporation's restoration project of the Monument cost £4.5million and included a new viewing platform balustrade, cage, new telescopes, improved lighting, cleaner stonework and repairs to the architectural sculpture. The "flaming" orb was reguilded and real-time panoramic views from the top are now relayed on a dedicated website. The plaque was unveiled by The Lord Mayor of the City of London, Alderman Nick Anstee at a ceremony at the foot of the Monument. The Lord Mayor said: “More than 150,000 people visited the Monument each year before its restoration. Now the numbers are increasing exponentially. So I am delighted the Monument has won one of the, if not the, premiere award for conservation and restoration of good buildings”. Mr Desmond FitzPatrick, Chairman of the City Heritage Society said: "This well loved feature of our city, now clean and beautifully restored, is again as it should be!"

Obituary: Elizabeth Norman

We are saddened to hear of the death of Elizabeth Norman on Tuesday 20 July .  She was at home, surrounded by her family.  She had been diagnosed with cancer of the stomach lining three years ago and underwent three courses of chemotherapy.  During the last session it was found that the treatment had ceased to work (the cancer had spread to her liver) and she was given palliative care at home. 

It was not until the last two weeks of her life that she was confined to her home. On Saturday 3 July she travelled to London to give a short talk at the V&A on her plinth experience (an hour of Indian club swinging on the Trafalgar Square fourth plinth starting at 1a.m. – part of Anthony Gormley's “One and other” public art project.) 

So ends a life characterised by an indomitable spirit.  Trained in the U.S. as an art historian, Elizabeth travelled in India, the U.S. and Japan.  She worked at various times as a museum registrar, a university lecturer and a researcher (a PhD at age 68!).  Right up to her last days, she was working with colleagues on a study of public art in South Yorkshire. 

PMSA involved in the restoration of the Wellington Monument, Somerset

The National Trust recently hosted a meeting to discuss the current condition and reoccurring defects of the Wellington Monument situated on the Blackdown Hills, near Wellington, Somerset. The PMSA were invited to join others with knowledge of repairing monuments in debating what the repair strategy might be following a condition survey of the Wellington Monument in late 2005. The project to repair the obelisk is still at an early stage.

In 1815 William Ayshford Sandford of Nynehead suggested a monument to the Duke and, by December of that year £1450 had been raised by public subscription. The winning entry, by Thomas Lee of Barnstaple, in a design competition envisaged a 95ft pillar surmounted by a cast iron statue of the Duke, with three cottages incorporated in the base for occupation by three veteran soldiers.The foundation stone was laid by Lord Somerville on 20th October 1817. By December 1818 the pillar was only 47ft high and in 1820 a new appeal was launched for £500. The response was poor and the column of 121 ft was left incomplete with a flat top and no statue. In 1829, £2000 was still needed and the project was allowed to slide. Lightning struck the tower in 1846 and badly damaged the structure. The death of the Duke in 1852 gave fresh impetus to the memorial and a fresh appeal was organised by Arthur Kingslake of Taunton, treasurer of the fund. A survey showed that most of the original mortar used proved to be soluble in water and had been washed away. Taunton architect C.E. Giles was hired and eventually the pillar was raised to 170 feet and a conical cap, incorporating a viewing chamber, was placed on it in 1853. By 1890 the monument was still in poor condition and more money was needed for restoration. The work was finished in October 1892 raising the height to 175 feet, without a statue or the cottages originally planned. 24 cannons were also to be placed around the plinth at one time but after many false starts over the years four cannons were trundled into place only to be taken away for scrap during WWII. The obelisk became a charitable trust in 1893 and was taken over by the National Trust in 1934.

New book: 'Walking London's Statues and Monuments'
by Rupert Hill

A captivating addition to New Holland,s London walks list, focussing on important, memorable or beautiful statues, sculptures and monuments around London. The 13 walks featured take around one to two hours to complete and each take in between 20 and 40 works. The reader is given all the relevant information about both the walk and the work of art, which include themes such as historical, armed forces, theatre and all current sculpture in London from Hyde Park to Greenwich, including Canary Wharf (with a view to the 2012 Olympics).  The book is elegantly illustrated with artworks of the statues drawn in pen and ink with a colour wash. With classical and modern sculptures to visit, the book provides a fascinating overview of the people and events the capital has chosen to commemorate and the way different artists have undertaken their commissions.

Available through New Holland Publishers

Missing bas relief- Bury Street, London SW1Y

The St. James's Conservation Trust is investigating the removal of a bas relief from the Bury Street facade of No. 73 Jermyn Street, London, SW1. The relief depicted Charles II handing the deeds of the area to Henry Jermyn. The Trust has ascertained that this beautiful and important bas relief was ripped from the Bury Street facade by construction workers in the course of the replacement of windows and discarded into a skip. They have approached Westminster City Council to determine the date when this vandalism occurred and they await this information. The Trust wishes to know more about the piece - who was the sculptor and the history of the work. If anyone can help them with their research, please let us know and we will pass on the information.

You can find out more about the St. James's Conservation Trust on their website: http://www.sjctrust.co.uk/

Special Offer from Liverpool University Press on the Public Sculpture of Britain series

Special discounts are now available for PMSA members and Sculpture Journal subscribers on the Public Sculpture of Britain series. As well as an excellent price for individual volumes, Liverpool University Press have made available an exclusive offer for the complete set for only £100 plus £3.50 postage. For further details of this offer, download an order form by clicking here.

Ronald Pope (1920-1997), sculptor and artist

A new website has recently been launched focusing on the life and work of Ronald Pope. The website, constructed by the sculptor's daughter and her husband, states, ' Only a few sculptors and artists achieve acclaim and wide public recognition.  Ronald Pope deserved such acclaim - his work was highly regarded within the art world, but  he shunned publicity and commercialism, being content with the privacy this gave himself and his family. He lived and worked as a sculptor in Melbourne, Derbyshire, drawing inspiration from his love of the countryside, particularly the High Peak  and the Derbyshire Dales, Snowdonia, the Lake District and Norfolk.  This influence can be seen in a number of Ronald Pope's creations - his imaginative use of the horizontal and vertical dimensions of rock formations, combined to create a seamless bond between the material and design of the final sculpture. Born in 1920, Ronald Pope started his working life as an engineering apprentice at Rolls Royce in Derby.  Here he learned many of the techniques of fine welding and brazing that were to be developed to such fascinating effect later in his life as a sculptor.  His artistic leanings led him, in 1945, to the Slade School of Fine Art in London where he studied sculpture, under Prof F E McWilliam.  He later studied ceramics at Woolwich Polytechnic, under Heber Matthews.'

The website, http://ronaldpope.com/ has images of 209 sculptures and 16 of his paintings and drawings. The authors are hoping to obtain information on any 'lost' sculptures and paintings by Pope and also invite comments on the work and website. You can contact them at: ronaldpope@hotmail.co.uk

The definitive series on the sculpture of Anthony Caro
Five new volumes from Lund Humphries

Newly published, this is a boxed set dedicated to the work of Anthony Caro. The volumes are entitled: Drawing in Space; Interior and Exterior; Figurative and Narrative Sculpture; Small Sculptures; Presence. The box has been specially designed by Anthony Caro.

Since the mid-1950s, when Anthony Caro first announced himself as a young sculptor to be reckoned with, he has restlessly explored an unpredictable range of sculptural possibilities, testing limits and positing new ideas about the nature of eloquent three-dimensional objects. Through his expansion and transformation of the legacy of construction in metal pioneered by Julio González and Pablo Picasso, and further developed by David Smith in the USA, Caro has created a new, multivalent language of three-dimensional abstraction.

The Caro pendulum has swung between extremes of linearity and robustness, abstractness and allusion. He has countered his mastery of line and transparency with investigations of our responses to mass and perceptions of interior and exterior, even experimenting with literally enterable sculptures. He has made rigorously abstract constructions that resemble nothing but themselves, intimate table-based pieces, monumental constructions like metaphorical architecture, and complex multi-part cycles of narrative works that pulse in and out of explicit illusionism. And more. The range and variety of Caro's sculpture notwithstanding, there are also common threads that run through all of his work, from the beginning of his career to the present.

The five volumes in this set, each by a different critic, examine the various aspects of Caro's evolution individually, tracing the permutations of different themes - narrative, volume and mass, line and openness - throughout his work, over time. Each volume is independent and explores different territory, but cumulatively, by tracing these dominant themes, they provide new insight into the achievement of one of the undisputed giants of modernist art.

You can download a pdf file with further information, price and ordering details by clicking here

English Heritage Historical Review

Volume 4 of the English Heritage Historical Review is now available. This edition contains an interesting article by Richard Lea about The Whitby Gladiator. This statue was recently recreated by English Heritage. The original is known to have stood in the centre of the walled and paved courtyard in front of the north range of Whitby Abbey House, built between 1671 and 1674. This article considers the evidence for the statue’s form and location and concludes that it was a copy of the famous firstcentury BC Hellenistic sculpture known as the Borghese Gladiator, now in the Musée du Louvre. It records other copies in English gardens and considers the motives of Sir Hugh Cholmley, who set it up at Whitby.

English Heritage Historical Review is a rich source of historical research and interpretation. The journal focuses on discoveries from English Heritage properties, including landscapes, structures and their contents. It demonstrates English Heritage’s commitment to providing new historical interpretations which stimulate discussion and debate. The contributors to the journal include English Heritage historians, archaeologists and curators, and other experts writing on English Heritage properties. Their research is previously unpublished and is lavishly illustrated throughout.

You can download more information and an order form by clicking here

Statue commemorating Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Thames Tunnel, Rotherhythe, by Kevin Boys

Southwark Council and the Brunel Statue Group's plans for a £500,000, 15m (49ft) high, steel sculpture to commemorate Brunel have caused widespread criticism. The proposed statue is described by the Council as: '...constructed of double bull nose steel rails, bent into shape and bolted together to form a lattice-shaped effigy of Brunel in his trademark top hat. Brunel will have the appearance of juggling a symbolic representation of a ship, a tunnel, a bridge and a locomotive, recognising and reflecting his engineering achievements.'

In The Times, design critic Stephen Bayley calls the design, '...a pitiably low-brow, conceptually one-dimensional effort of literality in openwork metal', and goes on to to say that it is, '...artless, anachronistic and maladroit.' Referring to work by Paul Day at St. Pancras, the Battle of Britain Memorial, and Gormley's One & Other in Trafalgar Square, Bayley asserts that, 'Public art is crapola foisted on the incurious by the credulous' that is '...spreading like an untreatable aesthetic virus.'

The plans for the Brunel statue have also received criticism from Isambard Thomas, a descendant of the renowned engineer, who comments, 'It is too childish and much too big. It's hard to be critical of the artist, I don't know the brief that he was given. But the statue has nothing to do with Brunel's excellence. It lacks gravitas and resembles a stickman throwing a hula hoop.'

You can read the full two articles and see an image of the proposed design at:

Giant, juggling Brunel statue condemned as a 'low-brow horror'
Scrap this metal mockery of Brunel's genius

Our founder, Jo Darke, comments on the design in The Times, Public art and identity

Artangel Podcasts

The first Artangel Podcast is now live. The more-or-less quarterly online audio programme will offer exclusive features, sound extracts, recordings and interviews. This edition marks the beginning of a new decade with Jem Finer , reflecting on ten years of his 1000-year long composition Longplayer , and features Karen Mirza and Brad Butler discussing their Karachi- and London-spanning Artangel Interaction project The Museum of Non Participation .

Listen or subscribe to The Artangel Podcast here.