For those of us who live in the Parish of Brize Norton, we have an amazing opportunity to create and develop an exciting Public Art Project; with a focus on the ‘betterment of our community and cultural wellbeing’. This project is being funded through the S106 Public Art Fund which is derived from the Brize Meadow development being constructed by Bloor Homes Ltd.

Committee

A voluntary committee has been formed to explore ways to provide information and engage the village community in the process and to bring forward Public Art Projects. The committee members are Christine Payne, Les Goble, Tim Gush, Ben Campion, and Claire Stewart. We have been meeting over the previous few months to explore ideas and ways to launch this project. Our strap line is ‘for the betterment of our community’ which provides us with our key focus. One of our initial goals is how we involve the whole community, and as part of this objective, we welcome members of our community to join the committee. We meet regularly at the Humble Bumble Cafe in the Sports Pavilion. If interested, please contact us via email: public.art@brizenortonparishcouncil.co.uk

Public Art
– in its widest sense

Public Art is intended to enhance and develop the quality, distinctiveness, and future heritage of a place. Our project will involve the arts in its widest sense (please see the poster opposite) and raise ideas and questions which will help us to use the funding wisely and for the benefit of our community. Can we foster connections between each other and the land on which we live? Can we use art to sustain us, our environment, and our community? Can we use art and group activities to help us interact with our green spaces? Can art enhance our surroundings? Can art help us nurture ourselves and nature?

We need creative, innovative, and new ideas from groups, children and individuals who live in the parish, to help us explore possible art related projects. There will be many opportunities to contribute to the process and ongoing discussions. Your thoughts and comments, via the email below, are welcomed and as the project develops; we hope to use an online survey to help further guide decisions.

We are very fortunate that our accessible green spaces are increasing in size, with additional footpaths, a proposed nature trail, the Mary Ellis Country Park, a ‘Queens Green Canopy’ and  a village green for Brize Meadow, all contributing to the existing network of green corridors and parks, which in turn, increases connectivity.

The more we walk, play, make, draw, read, write, photograph, sit, exercise, and create in our green spaces, the more we will see, hear, notice, and appreciate our surroundings. This will help us connect to and support our wellbeing.

Plans for Community Engagement

We plan to engage further with the community during Spring 2023.

We have already planned an interactive presentation including a map which invites individual responses, the development of a webpage, and will include updates in each Parish Newsletter.

Other ideas include an artist-led walkabout to see what we notice in our green spaces and a treasure hunt styled adventure which sets out ‘clues’ across our parish.

We are at the beginning of the journey to enhance our community through the Arts and look forward to exploring ideas with villagers across the parish.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]