09 March 2010

New Public Art in SE23

Local artists, Artmongers, have been selected to create a new piece of public art in Forest Hill. The Sainsbury’s footpath commission is the second piece of art aimed at enhancing the walking route from the Station to the Horniman Museum.

The artwork will celebrate the museum’s collections and take account of the history and characteristics of the local area. Local residents will be involved in research and design through a series of workshops being held at the Horniman.

The initiative has been funded through planning obligations agreed with Sainsbury’s in relation to the refurbishment of their London Road store. Decorative Newsfeeds, an online LED work, was commissioned for the store window in 2004 and a third project will be developed in the summer. Fabrication of the footpath commission is due to be started in April and then installed in May on the wall along the footpath linking London Road to Sainsbury’s car park at the back of the store.

31 artists applied to undertake the commission and the public were consulted on four shortlisted designs. Artmongers were selected on the strength of their imaginative response to the brief. The artist collective has produced some of the most memorable pieces of public art in Lewisham including the Feed the Cows wheelie bins at New Cross, the Brockley Key and two large murals in Deptford. Inspired by ideas of transformation within the Horniman’s collection, this project promises to transform the wall in a humorous and dramatic way.

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