Sculpture site choices vital

As more artworks take pride of place in the central city area, the question is: How co-ordinated is the approach, and can Wanganui cement a place as Sculpture City?

If Wanganui is to be Sculpture City, then the siting of the sculptures is very important, Ross Mitchell-Anyon says.
A potter and supporter of local artists, he was one of three people lined up for a round table discussion of public art at last week's Sculpture Wanganui Syposium. The other two are Wanganui District Council employees and are unavailable for interviews.
The Sculpture Wanganui competition is only in its second year, with two works acquired so far. Both are on the Whanganui riverbank, one in Somme Pde and one near the new visitor information centre in Moutoa Quay.
Two other large works have been placed on the riverbank in the meantime.
There is From the Mountain to the Sea in Somme Pde. It is staying if another $27,000-plus can be raised to pay the artists.
And there's the Bearing sculpture in Moutoa Quay, from an anonymous benefactor.
Wanganui sculptor Brit Bunkley's Hear My Train A-Comin' was the 2011 winner, and it was thought his work would be placed alongside Daniel Clifford's Balancing Act in Somme Pde.
But at the symposium he said it would be better off elsewhere. The bank drops steeply beside the Somme Pde position, and it would be difficult for people to look at it from all sides.
Sculpture also needed space, he said. The Storm King Art Centre in the United States, a centre for sculpture, was "kind of spoiled by all the sculptures".
Mr Mitchell-anyon agrees that sculpture needs space and its siting is crucial.
"The (Sculpture Wanganui) sites currently on the side of a busy road (Somme Pde) are two dimensional. The works can only be seen as you're passing by.
"Sometimes that's okay, but I think Brit Bunkley's work needs space around it."
He said the riverside walkway downstream from Wilson St would be a better place for the monolithic work. There was more space there, and "some lovely little enclaves".
It took time to find the right place for his own Handspan public art work. But the result was worth it, and was "better than telling the artist where it's going to go".
When there were too many art works in a small space, they overwhelmed each other.
"They need to have a location where they can be read independently." The council had created an expectation that all the Sculpture Wanganui winning works would be placed on the riverbank, but he said there was no need for that.
"A row of public sculptures would ruin the sense of place of the river. You would be looking at that, rather than the river."
Sometimes sculpture is placed in the city by individuals or groups, rather than the council.
Where public art was donated the public should have warning and the opportunity to object, he said, with objections not necessarily upheld.
However he applauded the generosity of the Bearing donor, and said the work was attracting a lot of public interest.
He'd also like to see work removed if it lost its relevance or failed the durability test.
And he said the idea of having Sculpture Wanganui every year, with a $50,000 prize each time, needed rethinking. There were other possibilities, such as slighter and cheaper works, or saving up the money and commissioning work.
Guyton St's CBD initiative
Guyton St property owners want to add some sculpture to their stretch of the CBD, architect Craig Dalgliesh says.
Victoria Ave had a Victorian theme, but the references in Guyton St would be varied, and include Maori and literary culture.
Ideas include a bronze statue of poet James K Baxter, a sculpture representing the Maori New Year and poetry etched onto concrete.
The group would fund all this itself, but needed Wanganui District Council persmission to make changes in a public space.
Whatever was done would also have to leave room for future change, and for impulse.
Mr Dalgleish said the group had a "very encouraging" meeting with council last week.
It will now prepare a proposal to go forward to the council's public art steering committee.