South Holland District Council gets £30,000 to create art work in Spalding's Abbey Passage
Artwork will be placed in a town centre passage thanks to a £30,000 grant.
South Holland District Council has been awarded £30,000 from the Arts Council England Lottery Grant to create an artwork in Spalding's Abbey Passage.
This will be supported by £5,000 from the Spalding Town Centre Improvement Programme budget.
Coun Rodney Grocock, portfolio holder for Spalding town improvement, said: “I am delighted to see another significant funding success for Spalding, and the national support we are seeing for our ambitious plans for the town.
“I hope that this stunning new community mural can be a signature piece of artwork for residents and visitors, and can help to brighten and revitalise the passageway, which is a key link between trading areas in the town and connecting the centre to our beautiful riverside.”
The council will be working with Transported Arts, residents and schools on the project.
Transported will be providing 30 days of in kind working to manage the project, will take place in Abbey Passage in the town, which runs between Vine Street and Bridge Street.
Called Flos Pompa (Latin for Flower Parade), the community project will be themed around the event, working with up to 3,500 local artists, residents, Boston College, school children and groups over the course of nine months to create a dramatic, decorative ceramic mural.
The artwork will explore Spalding’s connection to flowers, especially tulips, and reflect the town’s cultural and economic history. It is part of a larger piece of work to help foster pride and community involvement in the town, and to help brighten the surroundings for those visiting or living in the area.
Work is due to get underway in April and follows on from other recent funding successes and investment, including £250,000 from The National Lottery Heritage Fund towards a new Spalding Reconnected project, celebrating the unique heritage of the town and riverside, and plans for a £282,000 investment by the council into improvements to the public realm in four areas of the town centre.
Nick Jones, director of Arts Council England-funded Transported Programme hosted by the University of Lincoln, said: “We are really excited at Arts Council England's decision to fund the community ceramic mural project in Spalding. The area's connection to horticulture and flowers is an important part of its history which we want to both share and celebrate, at the same time as making the town more attractive and interesting.
“The name Flos Pompa has been chosen as it is Latin for 'flower parade', making reference to the town's historical carnival, but also because Latin is the language of flowers, plants and horticulture.
“We are looking forward to inviting residents and groups to come along and make their contribution, so if there are schools or groups that want to be involved, please do get in touch with us as Transported.”
