Extract from Kirklees Council Press Release:

Work is ongoing to make town centres safe and attractive places to shop, exercise and socialise.   The pandemic continues to have a significant impact on our daily lives.  But we are keen to remind people that although we haven’t beaten the virus yet, we are supporting businesses to make our town centres safe and welcoming places to visit.

What is #HEARTyourtown?

One way we hope to achieve both is through #HEARTyourtown which will see temporary art installations by local artists appearing in Huddersfield and Dewsbury this summer. The artworks will provide colour and interest across each town, keeping people in queues entertained and encouraging people to spend time in less busy areas, whilst also providing an opportunity to contemplate the impact the pandemic has had on us all.

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Beam has produced a series of temporary sculptures by Kirklees’ artists including: Breathe Safe by Jane Howroyd in St George’s Square, Hope Springs Eternal by Angela Boycott-Garnett in St Peter’s Gardens and RISE by Helen Brook in Market Place, all in Huddersfield; and Urban Garden by Saba Rifat in front of the town hall in Dewsbury (due to be installed mid August).   The works are all very different and reflect the individual artists’ thoughts on themes such as climate change, healing and community resilience.

Nelson Mandela Corner in Huddersfield and The Memorial Gardens in Dewsbury will be turned into beautiful ceramic meadows as part of Garden Stories by Ammie Flexen and Kathleen Yore. The displays of colourful clay flowers reflect how outdoor spaces, gardens and nature have been really important to many of us during lockdown. Ammie and Kathleen drew inspiration from garden models created by the public to develop this beautiful ceramic meadow which will continue to grow throughout August. 300 children and their teachers took part in the project by making many of the clay flowers in their school bubbles.  You can see the mini gardens that influenced the project on the garden stories facebook page or on instagram.

Beam also coordinated creative shop window displays by Temporary Contemporary tenants in the Piazza, Huddersfield featuring works from local artists connected with The West Yorkshire Print Workshop, Colourcity, ame, Collaborarti and The Children’s Art School + Chol Theatre.

More information 

More artworks are planned for later in the month in both towns and information will be available on the HEARTyourtown website and on Kirklees Council Instagram channel.

Photo Credits: Kirklees Council + Bokehgo Film & Photography