Art / public art
New permanent public artworks set to be installed across St Philips Marsh
St Philip’s Marsh is undergoing a major regeneration as part of the 25-year long Bristol Temple Quarter project.
Alongside the building of new transport links and thousands of sustainable and mixed-use community spaces – to include homes, commercial units and an Oasis Academy secondary school – a number of permanent public artworks are set to be installed.
South west independent art and cultural producers Ginkgo Projects are working closely with artists on a number of commissions that will help to cement the identity of this rapidly-evolving corner of the city.
is needed now More than ever
RTIIKA Avon Street walkway installation in progress – photo: courtesy of Sophie Scott
Visual artist Rosa ter Kuile – known as RTiiiKA – is also founder of the Bristol Mural Collective, whose aim is “to support women, non-binary and trans folks to make street art” through the provision of advice, and opportunity to aspiring womxn painters of all skill levels.
Installation is now underway for their large-scale public artwork by the Avon Street tunnel, featuring bold, abstract patterns and shape, and playfully bright colours.
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Also on Avon Street, Adam Blencowe’s new sculpture will engage with the industrial heritage of its surroundings – the site, for over a century, of a lead and silver foundry.
Inspired by extensive research into the operation and processes of the former works, Blencowe’s approach – as detailed in the explanatory notes to the project – sought to “reinterpret elements of the foundry’s internal systems, translating histories of movement, labour and production into durable, tactile structures that surface a past no longer visible within the contemporary landscape.
Adam Blencowe visiting a working foundry as part of his research into his Avon St riverside sculpture commission – photo: courtesy of the artist
“Developed through dialogue with specialists in industrial archaeology and metal casting, alongside hands-on experimentation, the project connects historic industrial processes with contemporary fabrication.”
The resulting sculpture will be situated at the riverside, offering the viewer a chance to stop, pause and reflect on the densely layered historical context of its surroundings.
Adam Blencowe Avon St riverside sculpture in production – photo: courtesy of the artist
In collaboration with Ellie Williams, Holly Thomas, Will Goodchild and Ellian Showering, Dan Pollard is making a unique acoustic sculpture both of, and for, the area “that generates no sound, but reflects what it hears”.
The piece will tune into the constantly-shifting chorus of natural and industrial sounds and the tidal flow of the river, as the North Atlantic Ocean advances and retreats in a 12-hour cycle.
Dan Pollard, Albert Road Dawn Chorus recording, 2026 – photo: courtesy of the artist
Following the first opportunity to join The Tideway Choir at St Mary Redcliffe Church, a second chance is now open for local singing enthusiasts on the evening of July 25 – with all singers welcome, and no choir experience necessary.
Attendees will help Pollard to develop vocal pieces inspired by melodies captured in recordings of the dawn chorus from the banks of the Avon at Albert Road. It is a place in which nature and industry collide, with “wrens, magpies, chiffchaffs, blackcaps, moorhens, gulls and willow warblers” joining the sounds of “runners, cyclists, traffic and trains” by the riverside.
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Keep up with the latest on Ginkgo Projects’ work at www.ginkgoprojects.co.uk.
Follow the featured artists @rtiiika, @adamguyblencowe and @dan_pollard_.
Main photo: RTiiiKA
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