Tag Archives: Public Art Dundee

Sense of Belonging at Harris Academy

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Louise Kirby smiling with a background of decorative metal circles on a wall
photo credit Mark Thomas, Dundee City Council

A privilege to work with Harris Academy to create the public art for the front of the school building.  Artwork was inspired by the creative consultation during the summer term of 2024 where pupils and staff were invited to help me capture what’s great about Harris and it’s sense of belonging through drop in sessions, focus groups and the art department working with S2 pupils to hear their views.  It was great to hear their responses, see their artworks and get their feedback which all helped form how the artwork developed.

Research and Development

Key themes emerged from the consultation that linked to the welcoming pupils and staff, subjects and extracurricular activity, feeling of belonging and the sense of place with the the tiered building with great views over the trees, ripples on the Tay, seeing the rail bridge and big skies and features from the past including the clocktower in the courtyard.

Some of the pics from the research and pupils artwork from the consultation and art department working with S2 classes.

Part of the research and logistics I had site visits and tour of the building, accessed maps and plans and access to old school yearbooks and meetings with senior management.

For this site specific design I wanted to captured a real sense of place and sense of belonging that worked from a distance with flowing movement of various sizes of circles working together and as you get closer you see the illustrated details with meaningful references to the school.  Colour of the artwork links into the Harris school blazer colour as a majority plus pops of the brights of the house colours of Birnam (Red), Cawdor (Yellow), Forres (Green), Kinloch (Blue), that would contrast on the surface of the wall.

I developed concepts and created illustrated artwork and worked with fabricators and contractors to have the work fabricated and installed.  As this was an outdoor artwork I chose to fabricate in metal and use a cutting technique to apply the decorative illustrative feel.  This technique has some design challenges to create imagery without losing the essence of the image.

Pupils from Harris Academy standing outside the school with Louise Kirby all smiling next to the circular artworks on the front of the building
Photo Credit Mark Thomson Dundee City Council

“ What a privilege to work with Harris Academy to create the public artwork for the front of the building , it was a joy to run the sessions and hear so many positives about the school and bring this together to capture the pupils and staff feeling of the sense of belonging and the feeling of abundance and harmony.  Within the circle illustrations I hope that people connect and interpret how it connects to them.” Louise Kirby

Planning and Installing

Thanks for Sam for helping in the studio with the files to meet the timeline for production and to local fabricator AS Fabrication for producing the final pieces and installing and local Powder Coating Services for adding the colours.

Individual Circle Artworks

With my artwork I like to create work that captures a sense of place and is meaningful and unique to space and people who use it.  You can find out more about my projects and  commissions on my website

Decorative gates for Broughty Ferry Castle Terrace Gardens

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I designed decorative gates and panels for the two entrances at Castle Terrace Gardens, part of the Broughty Ferry active travel enhancements. I responded to the site specific space by hearing the history of the gardens from residents and their desire to reflect a tranquil and relaxing space.

The final designs have a mix of flora, fauna and creatures with a nod to the fern and thistle that link past resident Mr Gilray who represented both Scotland and New Zealand at rugby.

To appeal to families with young children I highlighted some snails trails, ladybirds and butterflies that might be spotted in the gardens. I hope the gates encourage children to look closer and discover the magic that is around us. There are 2 entrances, each entrance is unique with a similar feel.

Design Process

With a project like this I have an abundance of ideas and use traditional methods of sketching to think through the process. Then I select and reject ideas to create clear concepts for feedback. As the project developed it was agreed that panels leading to the gates would be designed to give a coherent look. Designs were mocked up to help visualise and a classic bottle green was chosen. Designs were then developed fully to suit the manufacturing process and safety guidelines.

Accessibility

Part of this transformation includes a sloped accessible path into the gardens and decorative gates that open both ways. Broughty Ferry esplanade has been transformation to help improve active travel, part of a much bigger picture you can find out more here. I particularly love working on strategic projects that encourage people to get out and about and improve places.

Local Fabrication

Local fabricator (AS Fabrication) worked on the technical aspect of the gates design and the bottle green colour applied by Tayside Powder Coating Services. I love when ideas become reality and seeing my work applied to different surfaces and situations and working with experts in their field.

I have a vision of the world full of creative interventions to bring more joy to the spaces we play, live, work and travel through.  My aim is to uplift and connect people and highlight the positives by creating artworks that capture a sense of place which creates a sense of belonging.  I love to do this by playfully applying colour and pattern to site specific spaces with bespoke designs.

I designed gates for Windmill Gardens just next to Castle Terrace Gardens which have a different look to suit the space, you can see a link with the stripes and circles. You can see them here

Windmill Gardens Gates

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Great to see three new decorative gates I designed for the lovely public gardens in Broughty Ferry called Windmill Gardens. Gates were commissioned to enhance placemaking part of the new re-development of the esplanade.

Site Specific Inspiration

I took inspiration from the history that a wood-turning windmill stood on the site of Windmill Gardens around 1850s. In my design work I like to capture a sense of place and linking the history of the windmill helps to reconnect the name of the park to its past .

Design Process

I went through numerous iterations of composition, imagery and colours with consideration to the technical aspect of producing final designs that would be fit for purpose and meet the brief. I wanted to capture the movement of the windmill blades/sails and I playfully tested different compositions and imagery mixing my love of circles and stripes.

The three gates works as a series but each is individual with linking imagery and work visually inside and outside the gardens. It took many iterations from the bright gates I mocked up (below) to the final designs.

The new decorative gates were to replace 2 old gates that were not fit for purpose and to add a new entrance opposite Castle Green Playpark. I worked with local fabricator AS Fabrication to fabricate and install the gates and used Dundee based Tayside Powder Coated Services to apply the colour and Ieva to work on vectors. Gates were designed to be opened both ways to help with accessibility and consideration was made for the best material and processes for for the site. Colour is important to me and my initial thinking was to have sunset inspired colours but as the designs developed and the choices of colour palette was limited I chose this pigeon blue.

Bigger Picture

For me I want to create a welcoming and uplifting feel for locals and visitors by creating meaningful designs that re-connect people to the place and help highlight the gardens that are for public use.  I highly recommend this little secret garden, always something lovely to spot!

Broughty Ferry esplanade is going through a transformation to help improve active travel, part of a much bigger picture you can find out more here.

I designed gates for Castle Terrace Gardens just next to Windmill Gardens which have a different look to suit the space, you can see a link with the stripes and circles. More info here

Photo above from Dundee City Council