Public Art: Case Studies
Lancing Story Buildings
The Lancing Story Buildings were a collection of four beautifully detailed miniature ceramic versions of locally known buildings around Lancing. Hidden around Brooklands Pleasure Park, treasure-hunt style, each ceramic building had a plaque and QR code to scan for more information.
Created by local award-winning ceramic artist Alice Mara, the Lancing Story Buildings captured what she described as local residents' “experience of life in Lancing" - see Alice Mara's website.
Raised by her father in the artistic printmaking and ceramic world, Alice was born and raised in Walthamstow in London and had a “real connection” with some of its buildings, having made several ceramics of them.
Having wondered if this was the case for people in other towns, Mara “crystallised” each building’s individual qualities with memories and experiences collected from local Lancing residents.
Through funding from the Adur & Worthing Trust Creative Commissions scheme (see Colonnade House website for details), Alice installed the ceramics as a temporary project in August 2021, alongside an interactive feature where she encouraged local park goers to participate by taking images of their dogs and pets next to these buildings and share them online - see Alice Mara on Instagram.
See also: Alice Mara's account on the Lancing Story Buildings - on the Colonnade House website
Photo: Alice Mara, the Lancing Story Buildings
Shoreham Airshow Memorial
To commemorate the tragedy during the Shoreham Airshow on the 22nd August 2015, 11 steel arches pay tribute to the 11 men killed in the incident.
Engraved with names and symbols ranging from a love of basketball and music to trains, the memorial stands alongside the banks of River Adur, near Old Shoreham Toll Bridge. It features 11 personalised arches and a space for people to grieve and to reflect.
Commissioned by the Adur District Council (ADC), Portslade-based artists Jane Fordham and David Parfitt worked with the impacted families to design a concept for the memorial that would symbolise each life lost. Fundraisers were set up by officers of ADC, collecting donations from a variety of local councils like the West Sussex County Council and Brighton & Hove City Council, as well as from local businesses around the area.
Because of this memorial, affected families can mourn in a space dedicated to them, and visitors can pay their respects whilst catching a glimpse of each life lost.
See also:
Photos: Shoreham Airshow Memorial
Seafront Gallery
A public exhibition space on Worthing's seafront built from five stone plinths set right by the shore, the Seafront Gallery showcases artwork ranging from photography to digital art. Located west of Worthing Pier on the Promenade, it has scored a local success that allows people to “see something different for a change” while out on walks. These stone-filled gabions were first installed during the second COVID-19 lockdown of 2020, and have since become a local attraction.
Artists and organisations can apply to exhibit on the Seafront Gallery and must meet the costs of display and installation.
For more information about the gallery and to find out how to apply, see: Worthing Seafront Gallery
Photo: Artist Anne Krinsky, with her artwork 'Wetlands Shifting Shorelines', at the Seafront Gallery in Worthing
'Life's a Beach' Mural
At 34 feet tall and 12 feet wide, Wooze's (aka Luke Henley) spray-painted mural stands in the heart of Lancing, overlooking the seafront and its passers-by - see Wooze on Instagram.
Named “Life's a beach”, it shows a woman looking through rips in a canvas in a pop-art style, Wooze's mural is set on the rear wall of the Setyres Garage, opposite The Perch in Lancing.
Wooze - a local artist in association with Horace (“Worthing's very own Banksy”) - is known for several murals alongside the South Coast. Having worked on this project during the four days between Christmas and the end of the year 2020, Wooze describes his work as having brought a “positive vibe” to the area rather than what was once this “drab wall”, helping bring Lancing back to life for local residents.
'Art on the Pier' Gallery
First installed in 2012, helping Worthing's Pier to win the National 'Pier of the Year' award in 2019, Creative Waves' 'Art on the Pier' is a favourite feature of Worthing's prize-winning tourist attraction.
Artists from professional and student level to local children have their art showcased, surrounded by rainbow-themed laminated vinyl panels. The pier also includes seaside photo board cut-outs, as well as a fascinating section exploring Worthing's heritage and environment.
What were once clear glass panels lined up in the middle of the pier have since been transformed through funding and support from Worthing Borough Council in 2017, giving the pier a vibrant aesthetic that can be spotted from afar, with its artwork changed annually.
Creative Waves are an organisation that have also done other projects and interactive activities across Adur and Worthing, some of their Worthing projects being the BugCycle Community Garden in Beach House Park and the Beach Green Mural along the Promenade outside Splashpoint. See Creative Waves website
Photo: Art on the Pier Gallery or Worthing Pier
The Desert Quartet
The Desert Quartet is a set of four bronze heads that can be seen gazing over Liverpool Gardens in Worthing, each head intricately designed with facial features and expressions differing from the next. Sculpted by Dame Elisabeth Frink (see the Tate Gallery website) - an internationally renowned sculptor - the Desert Quartet has been recognised as a local landmark in the town centre, and comes with its own fair share of intriguing history.
Frink's sculptures were commissioned in 1985 by The Avon Group (also responsible for the creation of the shopping precinct we now have called Montague Centre) who had them installed by the local council in 1990. This was under the condition that the Desert Quartet would be kept as a permanent form of art, and was part of the planning consent given to The Avon Group alongside the construction of Montague Centre.
Despite these sculptures already having been up for more than 15 years, the owners of The Avon Group made plans in 2007 to take down and sell the well-received landmark, with the hopes of promoting a competition to design the new piece of art that would replace the Desert Quartet.
This proposal was countered by campaigns led by the Worthing Society, backed up by the support of organisations such as the Twentieth Century Society and the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (now the Public Statues and Sculpture Association as of 2020), as well as support from the public. The campaign was successful and on the 11th of May 2007 the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, listed the Desert Quartet at Grade II*, preventing the piece from being taken down.
It is because of the listing of this piece that the protection and preservation of these sculptures as forms of public art has been secured, not only as an integral part of the local area and a placemaker for its history, but also as a precedent for the way public forms of art are protected across the country.
Photo: The Desert Quartet, sculpted by Dame Elisabeth Frink
Laser Light City
On 16th and 17th December 2021, Laser Light City was an interactive digital event with lasers shone into the night sky that people could control just from using their phone. They were made up of six powerful lasers that were mounted on Worthing Pier’s South Pavilion.
Programmed by BAFTA-winning artist, presenter and coder Seb Lee-Delisle, Laser Light City has created a lively, vibrant atmosphere even amidst times affected by COVID-19, which gave people the chance to see “world-class innovative light art” from around the town.
Being a playful, temporary light show, Seb and his team were hired by Worthing Borough Council and have also done shows in other areas like Brighton, Newcastle and Leeds.
Having once worked as a games programmer, Seb transfers his art to the public realm by actively working with lasers, projectors and electronics. Previous projects include Laser Light Synths, which has won several awards.
These playful shows are booked and set up in advance by local councils who hire Seb and his team, dates and locations found on the Laser Light City website. Some of their past shows have been in Brighton, Leeds, Milton Keynes and most recently shone from the South Pavilion on Worthing Pier on December 16th and 17th of 2021.
His shows have attracted a wide range of visitors who - even if they were unable to control the lasers themselves - could still enjoy the view of the sky lit up by colourful and radiant beams of light.
Photo: Seb Lee Delisle's Laser Light City on Worthing seafront (credit - Jan Budgen)
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Page last updated: 25 September 2023