NORTH NORFOLK ARTISTS COMMISSIONED TO CREATE HARE-THEMED SCULPTURE FOR WATTON

Watton is to gets its own six-foot high dancing hare – after a group of North Norfolk artists won a £5,000 commission to create a piece of public artwork on the site of 98 new family homes in the town.

Abel Homes has commissioned the Holkham Forge Partnership to produce the artwork following a competition to come up with a hare-themed piece to be placed at the firm’s Hare’s Green site, situated on the edge of Watton Green.

The commission is part of Abel Homes’ ongoing public art programme, which has already seen nine pieces of public art installed in the county, all made by Norfolk artists.

The brief for the commission was to come up with a piece of artwork with a hare theme, reflecting the site’s name and the hare shown jumping over a barrel on Watton’s town sign (‘wat’ was the local dialect name for hare, and ‘ton’ or ‘tun’ a barrel).

Maggie Abel of Abel Homes said, “This is the third time we have worked with the Holkham Forge Partnership, after they created pieces for sites in Swaffham and Little Melton.  The dancing hare is striking, light-hearted and attractive, and will lend a real sense of identity to the new community which are creating in Watton.

“These public artworks have been successful in starting to bind the threads of new community together, through sparking conversations and giving a sense of shared ownership – as well as a focal point to stop and chat.

“As a locally-based company, it is important for us to support the county’s artistic community, which is why once again we have commissioned a group of Norfolk artists to create our latest artwork.”

The sculpture, which will be sites on a piece of public open space on the new development, will be unveiled in the spring of next year.

In 2007 Abel Homes committed to commissioning a new piece of public artwork for each of the sites on which it builds new homes.  So far nine such commissions have been unveiled, including a life-sized shire horse collage made from found materials by renowned wildlife artist Harriet Mead at the firm’s hus46 site, also in Watton.  Other artworks have been installed in Drayton and Old Catton in Norwich, Shipdham, Hingham, Little Melton and Swaffham.