Publicview

Sunderland’s rich heritage has been the inspiration for many of Sunderland’s public art collection — which amazingly has over 150 individual artworks — but what people sometimes overlook is just how diverse that heritage is. Everyone knows about the shipbuilding and the coalmining, but how about the Limekilns down on the riverside by the Stadium of Light? Or the story behind the Walrus in Mowbray Park?

The sculptures and features on the St Peters Riverside, Mowbray Park and the City Library and Arts Centre have received national recognition in the arts world whilst also being much loved by residents, and few would disagree that those places would be a less engaging experience without the artworks.

Public art has a unique way of communicating and celebrating what we as a city are all about — both to each other and to the rest of the world. Indeed some of our best artworks have the potential to become the cherished heritage of the future.

Over the past 3 years Sunderland has developed a new series of public art commissions that uses, engineering, technology, animation to show the diverse range of what public art can be; Looking in Facing Out by Artists Winter and Hoerbelt are two large steel mesh structures surrounding the gas vents at Stadium Park, In this Day and That Age by Kathryn Hodgkinson at The Place arts and business centre, a series of glass sun shields, depicting the historic architecture from the Sunniside neighbourhood.

The digital animation piece Tropic of Sunderland by Dan Brown at the new Aquatic Centre, and the imposing glass ‘heads’ of The Delegation by Tord Kjellstrom at Rainton Bridge. Sunderland City Council and its partners continue to develop exiting new artworks across the city, with new commissions at Nookside, Ryhope, Hetton, Silksworth and the national ‘C2C’ cycle route to Roker Beach.

This site showcases public art in Sunderland in terms of all that is great about our city; the quality environment that these projects create will ensure that Sunderland builds upon its reputation as a great place to live and work.

Councillor Paul Watson