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To see photos of the current restoration work in the Stourport Basins, visit the Stourport Basins Photo Gallery.
To find out more about the Master Plan behind the Stourport Canal Basins Restoration click here
Download the latest community newsletter on the Stourport Basins project as a pdf file by clicking here.
If you do not have Adobe Reader you can download it for free by visiting their website.
e-mail us with your news, views and contributions for the website
The Stourport Basins Art Commissions
An integral part of the Stourport Canal Basin Restoration is the Arts Masterplan and Commissioning Programme. Formulated by a team led by the artists pro/POSIT and funded via a joint initiative between British Waterways, Wyre Forest District Council and Arts Council England; the aim of this programme is to place art and artists at the forefront of the design process in this unique heritage and conservation context.
The Arts Commissioning Programme is made up of a number of arts commissions which have been identified to illuminate, enhance and promote the site through events, projects and off site art pieces. Since September 2006 British Waterways have been working to implement the Arts Programme and have carried out research to source potential artists suitable to deliver the commissions which make up the two year programme. British Waterways focused on four specific commissions and invited a number of artists to respond to the initial commission briefs in December 2006. The responses received were assessed by a panel made up of the project partners in January 2007. As a result of this selection process, 5 artists have been chosen to deliver the commissions. The artists have been working on the project from April 2007. Further information about the commissions and each of the artists can be viewed below.
Site Illumination
There are two commissions inviting artists to work with contemporary site information and people connected to the site to explore and expose its unique and individual qualities and properties. It aims to link the pre-eminence of water and water flow to interpreted information in and around the town centre. These commissions take the sound of water, wildlife and computed information into another dimension and place to record the daily changing nature of the site. The artists will look at ways to make this information accessible, and present it back to engage new and existing audiences.
Open Commission - This commission is inviting an artist to explore the canal basins site and connected areas, to collect and interpret data from SCADA; a data collection system used by British Waterways to manage the use and flow of water into the Canal Basins. The artist will transfer this information into accessible data on and around the site. [more...]
Sound Commission –This commission is for an artist to create a site-specific sound installation, capturing the sounds of the island area of the Canal Basin and transferring / connecting these to the Town Centre. [more...]
Events and Site Animation
A set of five commissions have been developed to animate the site, engage with the community and encourage new audiences. The aim is to establish milestone projects to inform the events programming and commissioning of new work by British Waterways, and to establish a set of annual events.
Performance Commission – This commission is for a performance group to research and interpret the site history, its communities and stories, and present their findings in a site specific performance event within the Canal Basin. [more...]
Website Stories Commission – This commission is for an artist to capture stories about, and of the people of the Canal Basin and Stourport. The artist will establish and manage a website to facilitate the storytelling. [more...]
Big Draw Commission – This commission is to establish a drawing event in and around the Canal Basin as part of the Big Draw. The Big Draw is a national event which has been developed over the past five years by the Campaign for Drawing. The Campaign for Drawing invites everyone to join in, using drawing as a tool for engaging with the past, present and future.
Diary Images Commission –This commission is for an artist to establish a set of images by working with British Waterways staff and site users to document the daily activity taking place on site today. [more...]
Impressions Commission - This commission provides an artist with a blank canvas and the Canal Basins as a starting point to develop their own set of interpretative images in response to the site. [more...]
Site Revealing
There are two commissions which address aspects of site revelation and aim to peel back the layers to gain an insight in to the historical and practical functions of the site.
Tontine Garden Commission – This commission is to develop a fuller understanding of the site palimpsest and to add to the knowledge base of the Design team and future design options for the Tontine Gardens. It will link artists within the archaeological investigative dig process in the summer of 2005. It is intended that the artist will work closely with the archaeological team to reveal something of the process and findings of the test digs.
Engine Lane Gateway Commission - This commission will establish a key gateway and crossing point on Engine Lane. It is at this point, that the extent of the lower basin is revealed for the first time. This commission invites an artist to create a gateway piece that utilises and exposes the flow of water under the lane, establishing a threshold into the site and revealing its hidden glories.
Off Site
These two commissions look beyond the Canal Basins to re-establish links with the wider West Midlands region.
Stourport Ring Commission - This commission invites a local jeweler to design and make a unique ring celebrating the singular status of Stourport-on-Severn and the Canal Basins. The Stourport Ring connects Birmingham to Kinver Edge, Stourport and Worcester in a circular route. 83 miles long, about 55 hours cruising, and 118 locks. Usually covered in an energetic week, the Ring includes the 36 locks of the Tardebigge Flight.
Potteries Commission – This commission will see the creation of a set of unique ceramic rings to be placed on the vertical pillars on the Severn River edge pontoon at the Stourport Canal Basins. The commission seeks to re-establish a working link between the potteries in Stoke-on-Trent and the inland port of Stourport-on-Severn. This is based on the original trading rationale for the canal basins connecting the manufacturing centre’s of the West Midlands to the River Severn and Bristol – one arm of the Great Cross developed by James Brindley in the 18th Century.