The Civic Society and Friends of Chippenham Museum are working together to commission an artwork for Chippenham town centre.

Public art adds vitality to town centres and contributes to a community’s identity, fosters community pride and instils a sense of belonging.  Examples of public art exist in towns throughout the UK.  Closer to home, the pigs in Calne and our own calf in Chippenham are local examples.

The subject of our project is a celebration of the community spirit shown by the people of Chippenham when nearly 2000 wounded soldiers were treated at the Red Cross Hospital during the First World War. Recent research by the museum has uncovered how grateful the soldiers – many of whom were Australians far from home – were to be welcomed to the town and shown innumerable acts of kindness.

The artwork will focus on this forgotten period in Chippenham’s history and be a reminder of the community spirit that continues in our town.

Click the Picture below to find out more -

To contact the Chippenham Public Art Group or share your thoughts please email: publicartchippenham@gmail.com

If you would like to know more about the WW1 Red Cross Hospital, Chippenham Museum has published the book Unity and Loyalty – The story of Chippenham’s Red Cross Hospital. It is available from the museum.

 Does Art Matter?

A personal view – By Donna Vinyard

Over the last year or so the committee for the Friends of Chippenham Museum (FCM) and The Civic Society have issued regular updates on their ideas for a piece of public art in Chippenham.

Over the last couple of weeks, we have tried to spread the word and ask you, and the wider population of Chippenham; and the surrounding villages, what you think of the idea.  This article, which is totally subjective, is why I think art matters.

I was lucky I had parents who took me to art galleries and museums from a very early age. My father wanted to go to art school. But he was born into a working-class family in the Ipswich docklands. He left school at 16 and his father got him an engineering apprenticeship.  Dad accepted his lot and turned art into a lifelong passion and hobby.

He took us up to London to the Tate Britain and he showed us the controversial ‘Equivalent V111; by Carl Andre (better known as ‘The Bricks’). He didn’t say’ this is art; and he didn’t say ‘this is a load of rubbish’. He said ‘Here you are, this is what all the fuss is about. You decide if its art or not.’

Art can be very chocolate box and pretty and safe. And that’s fine. But, sometimes, it jumps up in the air and hits us with a far more visceral reaction.

For example, ‘Another Place’ by Anthony Gormley, is the installation of 100 lifelike figures on Crosby beach. It tells us so much without words – the power of the sea, and the puny nature of man against the elements, and maybe, his bravery and defiance as well. To see those figures emerging from the waves as the tide goes out is quite something.

As we are supposed to be talking about an art work to engage the public and enhance the townscape of Chippenham I am using my photograph of the Mary Anning sculpture at Lyme Regis. I’m sure most of you have seen it by now.  It celebrates local history and it attracts visitors to the area and its also a fantastic piece of art.  I love her sense of purpose as she strides along the coastal path.

So, one final story and then I’ll stop. It was very early in the morning and we were walking across the bottom edge of Trafalgar Square.   We were hurrying to an appointment. I looked across and saw something white and glowing in the opposite corner.  We walked across the square to see what it was and found the white Carrera marble sculpture of the disabled Alison Lapper by Marc Quinn.  It was colossal and monumental and it seemed to glow and pulsate in the early light.  In simple terms it was one of those wow moments.

And that is why I think art matters and why it’s important and how it can enhance and improve all our lives.  And that is why, on a purely subjective level, and speaking just for myself, that’s why I think more art in Chippenham would be a very good thing.

Donna Vinyard