OUTDOOR ART & SCULPTURE

Melbourne Road
Beaumont drumming

 


The Melbourne Road Landmark has been standing in Highfields since 1995. As part of the Melbourne Road Feet First Improvements Consultation, carried out in 1995, many residents wanted to see a sculpture or landmark in the area. The stonework and metal structure was erected in Florence Road precinct and was the result of a series of design and making workshops with local schools led by Soft Touch.

Students from Moat Community College worked with a blacksmith artist to design a large decorative metalwork globe to celebrate the different cultures living in the area. Some of the students had the opportunity to visit the artist's traditional forge in a tiny Lincolnshire village to help with making the piece. The base of the structure was covered with mosaic panels designed and made by children from three junior schools in the area.

 

Melbourne Rd pic 2

 

MELBOURNE STREET NATURE GARDEN

Over the summer of 2002 we worked with Friends of Melbourne Street Garden to refurbish the garden which we had helped to create four years previously. A large planter was removed to make way for Islamic style tiles made by local women and children. A new water feature was installed, an important element in many traditional Islamic gardens.

In the summer of 2004, about 200 trees were cut down at a site in Beaumont Leys known as Beaumont Walk, to improve access and visibility as part of the ‘Safe Neighbourhoods’ scheme. Soft Touch worked with about 60 local children and young people over a two-week period in August, using the fallen trees to create sculptures and furniture, which was left on site.

The project was a great success in that the local young people were able work together to make their area a brighter, safer and more attractive place to live and play. The project has been commended not just by the younger community residents but also by parents, older residents, local youth projects and the police and was featured on a local television news broadcast.