SWIFT DRIFT by Juliet Mootz
“Swifts travel 14,000 miles to spend their summers with us but their numbers are plummeting. However, we can all help them. Residents in Worcester have been putting up swift boxes to give them space to breed and are planting flowers to support the insects that they need to eat.” said Juliet Mootz. “Made from willow, the swift sculptures will enable us to develop conversations about the importance of ensuring we protect and enhance the whole food chain that keep these remarkable birds returning to the city. Worcestershire Wildlife Trust asked me to find a way to reflect the importance of swifts to our environment.”
The sixth sculpture to be commissioned and displayed on The Worcester Plinth, Swift Drift will be displayed on the riverside for around eight weeks and will then move to new homes around Worcester where communities will pack cut wildflower meadow grass between the woven willows. The sculptures will gradually be reclaimed into the earth and wildflowers will grow, providing new habitat and food sources for the insects, which can feed the returning swifts.
About Juliet Mootz
Juliet Mootz is a multidisciplinary artist working to open conversations and raise awareness of stories in our natural environment. Her practice, Reparative Land Art, is designed to make a positive impact on wildlife, using natural and salvaged materials wherever possible and simple construction techniques to build and make.
About Worcestershire Wildlife Trust
Worcestershire Wildlife Trust manages more than 75 special places for wildlife and supports people to help wildlife across the county. Working with members, volunteers, landowners and communities of all sorts, the Trust inspires and encourages people to care for wildlife where they live.
PRISM by Lizzie Rodriguez
PRISM, a moving colourful sculpture has been created for The Worcester Plinth by artist Lizzie Rodriguez in collaboration with the Worcester Snoezelen Centre, a multi-sensory therapy centre in Worcester. Funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through Worcester City Council, PRISM sets out to capture the colour, vibrancy and happiness of the Snoezey environment.
“Worcester Snoezelen is a very special place and we proudly celebrate the 30 years the charity has been developing,” said Jane Roberts, the Centre’s Chief Officer. “Our Plinth sculpture reflects the sensory centre, the colourfulness of our members and the cohesive approach the charity takes to celebrating sensory happiness for all. We hope you like the thousand beautiful ribbons blowing in the breeze created by our members, carers, families, staff and trustees inspired by our imaginative & talented artist Lizzie Rodriguez.”
The fifth sculpture to be commissioned and displayed on The Worcester Plinth, PRISM will be displayed on the riverside for around eight weeks and will then find a home displayed around the Worcester Snoezelen’s sensory garden.
About Lizzie Rodriguez
Lizzie Rodriguez of Sunshine and Stars Art is a local artist who paints Astro art in an impressionist style, gaining inspiration from images from Astrophotographers, Hubble and the James Webb Space Telescope. She works at Snoezelen leading art sessions for our members.
I set out to create a sculpture of light, colour, texture and movement because they are all so important to the sensory experience at Snoezelen. By working with as many Snoezey members, staff and families as possible to create the piece we could demonstrate the ethos of inclusivity that runs through everything Worcester Snoezelen stands for. We hope you enjoy our thousands of colourful ribbons blowing in the wind and that we managed to encompass that colour and movement that captures the happiness of the Snoezey environment.
This artwork was made in collaboration with Lizzie by Charlie Teasdale, Sarah Field, Aaron Ingles, Laura Gill, Ben Lee, Phillip Corbett, Kwai Chan, Shirley Pederson, Mary Brant, April Camden, John Davies, Liam Clifford, Viv Adams, Lottie Hawkins, Sarah-Jane Brown, Simon Jordon, Fahmeyda Begum, Abigail Woodward, Matthew Halligan, Ernie Aliband, Patrick McCann, Laura Reaper, Cat O’Connell, Beth Hiatt, Olivia Miller, Jane Roberts, Dom Maloney, Ivy Roberts, Worcester Snoezelen CIO Trustees, Steven Wattison, Christopher Murphy and Paul Mousley.
Instagram &Facebook @sunshineandstarsart
About Worcester Snoezelen
Worcester Snoezelen is a multi-sensory therapy centre for people of all ages who have disabilities and additional needs. Based in St Johns Worcester and has been delivering life enhancing services for 30 years. Snoezelen has multi-sensory rooms, a hydrotherapy pool, Soft Play area and a sensory garden to help us with exploring the world by using our senses.
The specialist equipment and skilled staff help our members enjoy the sensory environment. Music, Arts, Yoga, Baby Swim and Play Therapy are staff led services offered at the centre. Group activities for children and families include our Tuesday Sensory Play sessions for under 5’s and Snoezey Sundays. These are both popular activities where families and carers can take part in experiential learning, relax with other parents and spend quality time in a sensory oasis. Rock School, Activity Wednesday and Sounds Inclusive are group activities packed with fun specifically for adults who have learning disabilities. Performance opportunities and arts exhibitions help to highlight diversity, talents and challenge preconceived ideas about disability.
The Snoezelen concept was originally founded by Dutch psychologists. The concept is based on creating a purposeful space kitted out with stimuli which evokes the senses. The warmth of the waterbed, the sound of the bubble tubes, the rotating projected images and the smell of essential oils. For most this would be a relaxing space however for people who are neurodiverse or have cognitive and physical impairments this space may offer tranquillity and a feeling of calm within a scary world which they may have no control. Others may find it stimulating to interact with the colours, tactile objects and movement sensitive equipment. Most of all its fun!
WILD WORCESTER: SKY LIONS AND OTHER ANIMALS
BY TARRAGON KELHAM – WWW.TARRAGONKELHAM.CO.UK
Generously Funded by The Elmley Foundation
The Worcester Plinth welcomes its latest arts installation ‘Wild Worcester: Sky Lions and Other Animals’ by Tarragon Kelham.
The work is inspired by the medieval misericord carvings of amazing animals in Worcester Cathedral, and the beautifully drawn, crazy, composite creatures of medieval bestiaries. Some of these medieval bestiaries, of which the Cathedral has an extensive collection, contain ‘combination’ animals like the ‘Cockatrice’: a two-legged dragon or serpent with a cockerel’s head.
Tarragon states ‘These creations provoked me into thinking about the incredible composite creatures that do exist in nature. Evolution seems to have contrived creation in the manner of the children’s game, where one participant draws a head, another the neck and then so on until amazing animals are born.’
The work was created following community engagement workshops at Worcester City Museum and Worcester Library where the artist encouraged children to explore the amazing animals in their imaginations. These were then incorporated into the work.
Tarragon Kelham (b.1996) is an internationally exhibited artist having shown in Canada, Scotland, England and the Netherlands.
‘Hendrix in Worcester – by Iona Rowland www.ionarowlandart.com
Commissioned by The Worcester Plinth
Generously funded by The Elmley Foundation
A large ‘billboard’ style artwork that draws on Iona’s 2021 mural ‘Hendrix in London’ commissioned by the Handel & Hendrix Museum for the window facade of 23 Brook Street (Jimi Hendrix’s former Mayfair home). ‘Hendrix in Worcester’ focuses on Hendrix’s iconic 1967 performance at the Gaumont in Worcester.
Composed of a myriad of layers and motifs – all hand rendered using oil paint, spray paint, pencil, pen and screen-printing methodologies and reproduced digitally before being printed onto vinyl and adhered to aluminium dibond. The composition will feature portraits of Hendrix, architectural motifs linked to the Gaumont, and
references to the set Hendrix played on April 2, 1967.
‘Hendrix in Worcester’ was unveiled on 30th November 2022 which would have been Jimi Hendrix’s 80th birthday.
‘Pelicans’ by Frans Wesselman – www.fwstainedglass.co.uk
Commissioned by The Worcester Plinth
Generously funded by The Elmley Foundation
The piece is inspired by both the unique arts space but also by the artists love of birds. The work has been created to represent a squadron of birds following the wind as they fly along the River Severn. Built from wooden forms the pelicans are designed to turn with the wind, creating movement and change with the weather.
About Frans Wesselman and Pelicans
Frans is from the Netherlands and is a printmaker and stained glass artist who works occasionally in other projects such as “Godiva awakes” in Coventry as part of the 2012 Olympic games. Frans commented ‘After meeting the Plinth team I thought it was such a good idea. I originally thought of Japanese style fish kites, but had concerns about their movement in the relatively restricted space. Then remembered the formations of pelicans seen in India and having a eureka moment in the middle of the night on the ferry back from France, worked out how they could be done.’
The piece is inspired by both the unique arts space but also by the artists love of birds. The work has been created to represent a squadron of birds following the wind as they fly along the River Severn. Built from wooden forms the pelicans are designed to turn with the wind, creating movement and change with the weather.
‘The Return of the Mayfish’ by Alan Ross
Commissioned and funded by Canal & River Trust.
This shoal of three shining steel shad was commissioned to celebrate the completion of Unlocking the Severn, a once in a lifetime river restoration project. Hand crafted by artist Alan Ross, the fish provide a visual reminder of life usually hidden underwater and marks the huge achievements of the project including the construction of four fish passes to reconnect the River Severn for one of the UK’s rarest migratory fish, the twaite shad.