Public art crucial for communities, says penguin designer
Published On Thu 27 Sep 2018 by Jonathan Watson
The success of charity art trails highlights the positive effect sculpture can play in bolstering civic pride, a University of Dundee academic has said.
Janice Aitken, Associate Dean for Public and Community Engagement at the University‘s Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, said that the success of campaigns like the city’s Maggie’s Penguin Parade would also help to inspire future generations of artists.
Janice, who created the original design used for the cancer charity’s summer fundraiser, made the comments as she prepares to speak at Dundee Arts Café on Tuesday 2 October.
“It’s very important to celebrate a rich culture and heritage in any community,” she said.
“Having a sense of fun and civic pride makes any city a more positive place to live. Public and community art is an important way to encourage young people to see art, design and other creative work as viable career paths.
“We need mathematicians, engineers and scientists, but we also need to encourage creative thinkers as these skills can make a huge difference to establishing a sense of community.”
In her talk, Janice will speak about the benefits of public art and her association with the Penguin Parade, which saw 80 different sculptures put in place throughout Dundee and the surrounding area over the summer.
Dundee has a rich heritage of public art projects supported by the local authority and other funders. More recently it has also become a means of supporting charities, promoting civic pride and boosting tourism via corporate sponsorship and private donations.
Working with specialists in this kind of work, Wild in Art, other cities across the country such as Bristol and Liverpool have also embraced the concept of the art trail in a bid to boost visitor numbers, generating huge sums of cash for local economies, as well as the charities they are designed to benefit.
With the penguin sculptures having since been sold off to raise a total of £540,000 for Maggie’s, Janice said that building a connection between public art and the communities in which it is situated is critical to its success.
“You have to include a community in decisions about public art,” she added.
“The competition to decorate the penguins was an open competition, involving hundreds of people submitting designs. The engagement with schools was also hugely important, and it was so important to involve children with the project.
“It’s never a good idea to just parachute pieces of public art into a community as they have no relationship with it. The penguins worked so well because they made people smile and because they helped to raise money for Maggie’s, which does such wonderful work here in Dundee.”
‘Penguins – Public Art on Parade’, takes place in the McManus Café, McManus Gallery, on Tuesday 2 October at 6pm. Everyone is welcome, with entrance free of charge and no booking required.
Early arrival is essential as places are limited, and a collection in aid of Maggie’s will follow the event.
For media enquiries contact:
Jonathan Watson
Media Relations Officer
University of Dundee
Nethergate, Dundee, DD1 4HN
Tel: +44 (0)1382 381489
Email: j.s.watson@dundee.ac.uk