A falcon and a puppy take up residence in Chesterfield
The Yards shopping area in Chesterfield’s town centre is now home to a falcon and a puppy. The two artworks are the latest instalments of the Chesterfield Cultural Renaissance project which has delivered several pieces of unique artworks in the area over the past few months.
The project, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Chesterfield Borough Council, was set up to improve The Yards to promote local businesses and attract more shoppers.
The latest artworks, a puppy sculpture in Theatre Yard (once known as “the kennels”) and a falcon sculpture in Falcon Yard were designed by Geoff Woods from Working pArts.
Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism at Chesterfield Borough Council said: “I think all the sculptures look fantastic. The Yards area is an important feature of the town centre with some great independent shops. We want to attract more shoppers and visitors to help the businesses thrive and the artworks are just one way of adding a new dimension to the area.”
Lisa Swift from Altered Chic in The Yards said: “There are lots of different creative businesses in The Yards so it’s quite fitting that some artwork has been used to make the area more inviting. We often see visitors taking photographs of the buildings so this will be another added attraction to help pull people into the area.”
Geoff Wood who led the design team said: “There’s a lot of history to The Yards and we’ve used this in the design of each piece. Glove manufacturing was once a feature of the small industries in The Yards so we’ve used the symbol of the glove hand as a motif to beckon people into the Yards. We’re really pleased with the final sculptures and hope they become a much loved feature.”
The Mayor of Chesterfield, Councillor Donald Parsons and the Leader of the Council, Councillor John Burrows, will host an event to celebrate the completion of The Yard’s improvement works and to launch a ‘Name the Puppy Competition’ on Friday 2nd November at 11am.
Source:Chesterfield Borough Council
