Children have been working with artist Anna Chapman Parker who has been commissioned to create a new public artwork to be installed in Berwick’s Castle Vale Park.
The project is a collaboration between the volunteer Friends of Castle Parks (who also help to maintain the Flagstaff and Coronation parks in the town), The Maltings, Prior Park Primary School and the artist.
Pupils of the school could be said to be following in the footsteps of Cedric Morris whose work featured in a popular summer exhibition at the town’s Granary Gallery.
Morris (1889 – 1982), equally respected in art and horticulture, became known as the Artist Plantsman.
Anna Chapman Parker, who moved to Berwick from Edinburgh nearly a decade ago, also has a foot in both camps.
Last year saw the publication (by Duckworth) of Understorey: A Year Among Weeds, her acclaimed book chronicling, in prose and meticulous drawings, her months spent studying what many gardeners would call the bane of their lives.
She’d set out to answer a question: “What is the story of these familiar plants that accompany our every step, yet pass beneath our notice?”
The latest commission follows the Friends of Castle Parks receiving £7,903 from Destination Tweed’s community grant scheme (funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund), a sum topped up by £500 from the Hadrian Trust, secured by The Maltings (Berwick) Trust.
According to Jackie Kaines Lang, vice chair of the Friends, the Cedric Morris exhibition was the stepping stone for the project.
“We’re delighted that this collaboration is now underway,” she said.
“It’s the culmination of many conversations and much planning with partners, Northumberland County Council, The Maltings, Anna Chapman Parker and Prior Park Primary.
“We’re very grateful to funders Destination Tweed who have been incredibly supportive and efficient.
“Prior Park Primary is working towards Arts Council England’s Artsmark accreditation and this will help that progress.
“We can’t wait to see Anna’s final work installed in the park, attracting even more visitors.”
Julia Tait, of Prior Park Primary, said the art project was a wonderful example of what can happen when community and creativity come together.
“With guidance from artist Anna Chapman Parker and inspiration from the work of Cedric Morris, our pupils are helping to create something that will brighten the park for everyone.
“It’s more than just a piece of art – it’s a legacy of pride, connection and imagination that belongs to the whole community.”
And what of the artist, who says her work explores relationships between drawing, writing, body and place, and who expresses a particular interest in “acts of focused observation”?
“I am really glad to be working on this project which connects visual art, accessible green space and education in a really interesting way,” she said.
“Berwick is fortunate in having a particularly strong arts programme and a collection of beautifully looked after parks.
“In addition to the work we make, our project is about exploring our connection to these public spaces – galleries and parks – and celebrating the links between nature and creativity.”
Her Castle Vale Park artwork is to be installed on a wall by the lily pond after its completion in the spring.