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Rotherwas Women a monumental artwork is planned for the heart of Hereford’s industrial area, the Rotherwas Industrial Estate.
The entire £60,000 budget for the project has been provided by European and Central Government funding.
Herefordshire Council’s role was to lobby for the funding as part of an initiative to bring public art to the area which will highlight the positive role women have had at Rotherwas.
Artist Bruce Williams has been commissioned to come up with the designs to be etched on 14ft-tall granite slabs which will be installed along the straight mile at Holme Lacy Road.
They will depict the faces of three Rotherwas women - Joan Hiles, whose mother worked in the munitions factory at Rotherwas in WWI, a local businesswoman and Sophia Dillon, whose grandfather worked as a foreman and guard in the munitions factory in WWII.
The granite slabs will also feature designs taken from local landmarks – a Celtic knot from Kilpeck Church, a zig-zag pattern from Hereford Cathedral and a patchwork design from Rotherwas Chapel.
“This is a great opportunity to bring something new and fresh right in the heart of the county’s business area,” said Cllr Roy Stockton, Cabinet Member (Community and Social Development).
“They are quite unlike anything we’ve got anywhere in the County and will certainly put the area on the map,” he added.
“Community art is important and has a place in all our busy lives. To combine this with the role of women at Rotherwas will prove a real talking points for both workers and visitors to the area,” he added.
As it will be locals who will see the works on a daily basis, a series of exhibitions are to be held to allow people to vote on their preferred design.
These exhibitions are now on display until the 24th August at:
· Pickadish Catering, Site Centre Canteen, Netherwood Road, Rotherwas Industrial Estate
· Edisons Coffee Shop, Thorn, Rotherwas Industrial Estate
· Planning Offices, Blueschool Street, Hereford
· South Wye Learning Centre, Stanberrow Road (Back of Haywood School)
More follows
Following this, the designs will tour round libraries across Herefordshire.
“We’d encourage as many people as possible to get along and have a look at the exhibitions and let us know what they think,” added Cllr Stockton.
“Community art is exactly that – art for, and by, the local community. We want people to have their say feel that the art belongs to them.”
This community-based art project celebrates three generations of women, the important role of women at Rotherwas, working in the munitions factory during the two world wars and leads on from the recently published book “In the Munitions”. Also the role women have in business today and women of the future.
But it’s not just the famous three faces which will be put on display – the names of men and women who worked at Rotherwas during the war will be etched on the back of the artworks.
Anyone wanting their name, or the name of a family member or friend should write their names, in capital letters, and send them to:
The Rotherwas Project, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 4, Plough Lane, Hereford, HR4 0XH.
As well as contributing to some of the designs on the granite artworks, Rotherwas Chapel (situated near the Household Waste Site at Rotherwas) is also staging an exhibition of art made by contemporary artists and film makers made specially for the Chapel, including art made with disadvantaged young people from Hereford.
The 15th-century chapel – which is owned and managed by English Heritage – will be open as part of the Heritage Open Days, organised by English Heritage, from Wednesday, September 8th to Tuesday, September 14, between 11am and 5pm.
Free shuttle buses will be available on Saturday and Sunday, September 11 and 12, and will leave the former Post Office building in Broad Street, on the hour between 11pm to 3pm, to take people to and from the City Centre to the exhibition.
MONUMENTAL ART AT ROTHERWAS
Rotherwas Women a monumental artwork is planned for the heart of Hereford’s industrial area, the Rotherwas Industrial Estate.
The entire £60,000 budget for the project has been provided by European and Central Government funding.
Herefordshire Council’s role was to lobby for the funding as part of an initiative to bring public art to the area which will highlight the positive role women have had at Rotherwas.
Artist Bruce Williams has been commissioned to come up with the designs to be etched on 14ft-tall granite slabs which will be installed along the straight mile at Holme Lacy Road.
They will depict the faces of three Rotherwas women - Joan Hiles, whose mother worked in the munitions factory at Rotherwas in WWI, a local businesswoman and Sophia Dillon, whose grandfather worked as a foreman and guard in the munitions factory in WWII.
The granite slabs will also feature designs taken from local landmarks – a Celtic knot from Kilpeck Church, a zig-zag pattern from Hereford Cathedral and a patchwork design from Rotherwas Chapel.
“This is a great opportunity to bring something new and fresh right in the heart of the county’s business area,” said Cllr Roy Stockton, Cabinet Member (Community and Social Development).
“They are quite unlike anything we’ve got anywhere in the County and will certainly put the area on the map,” he added.
“Community art is important and has a place in all our busy lives. To combine this with the role of women at Rotherwas will prove a real talking points for both workers and visitors to the area,” he added.
As it will be locals who will see the works on a daily basis, a series of exhibitions are to be held to allow people to vote on their preferred design.
These exhibitions are now on display until the 24th August at:
· Pickadish Catering, Site Centre Canteen, Netherwood Road, Rotherwas Industrial Estate
· Edisons Coffee Shop, Thorn, Rotherwas Industrial Estate
· Planning Offices, Blueschool Street, Hereford
· South Wye Learning Centre, Stanberrow Road (Back of Haywood School)
More follows
Following this, the designs will tour round libraries across Herefordshire.
“We’d encourage as many people as possible to get along and have a look at the exhibitions and let us know what they think,” added Cllr Stockton.
“Community art is exactly that – art for, and by, the local community. We want people to have their say feel that the art belongs to them.”
This community-based art project celebrates three generations of women, the important role of women at Rotherwas, working in the munitions factory during the two world wars and leads on from the recently published book “In the Munitions”. Also the role women have in business today and women of the future.
But it’s not just the famous three faces which will be put on display – the names of men and women who worked at Rotherwas during the war will be etched on the back of the artworks.
Anyone wanting their name, or the name of a family member or friend should write their names, in capital letters, and send them to:
The Rotherwas Project, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 4, Plough Lane, Hereford, HR4 0XH.
As well as contributing to some of the designs on the granite artworks, Rotherwas Chapel (situated near the Household Waste Site at Rotherwas) is also staging an exhibition of art made by contemporary artists and film makers made specially for the Chapel, including art made with disadvantaged young people from Hereford.
The 15th-century chapel – which is owned and managed by English Heritage – will be open as part of the Heritage Open Days, organised by English Heritage, from Wednesday, September 8th to Tuesday, September 14, between 11am and 5pm.
Free shuttle buses will be available on Saturday and Sunday, September 11 and 12, and will leave the former Post Office building in Broad Street, on the hour between 11pm to 3pm, to take people to and from the City Centre to the exhibition.