Our Domain Public Art Project - It’s time to see the results!

Five artist teams have been working with the local community over recent months to design a three-dimensional public art piece for Domain, a new residential development in Reading with 253 apartments for rent.

Their work will be exhibited next week in the newly completed resident lounge at Domain, and a limited number of tickets to the Private View on Thursday 26 May are available via Eventbrite.

There will be further opportunities to see the artists’ work and the proposed designs on Saturday 11 June, 12pm to 4pm and Sunday 12 June, 12 pm to 4pm (no booking needed - info on this site soon).

The exhibition is the culmination of a project that began last September when local artists were invited to work with an outstanding team of Mentors and Technical Advisors to develop their concepts pre-application.

In February, five projects were selected to proceed to the next stage and the exhibition is a chance to see the exceptional range and quality of work carried out by the artists involved. The projects are:

Mantlepiece: Nick Garnett
Missing Yew: Petre Nikoloski
Reading Hug: Caroline Streatfield, Leigh Took & Lauren Took
Shadows of Reading: Ahmad Alazami & Qamar Ayoubi
St Retail of Reading: Sarah Britten Jones & Jon Lockhart

The ‘Our Domain’ project has explored a new, more collaborative and participatory approach to public art, and all involved have been very excited by the opportunities this has provided.

Glen Ingleson, Crossmark commented:

‘The Crossmark team are very aware that our development needs to merge with the existing environment and community as it will become the new home for hundreds of people, and we wanted to engage with the community around Weldale Street. In our view the art competition has been an outstanding success. The artists have all worked very independently and have approached the brief to create new public art with spirit and imagination. Importantly, we have also learnt from the process. In future we plan to consider the design for artwork at the master planning stage so that the artists have the opportunity to be even more creative. We’re all looking forward to seeing the exhibits next week and understanding more about the artists approach and their ambitions.’

Following the exhibition one piece will be selected by the local Mentoring Team, with the support of the Crossmark Technical Advisory Panel. This will then be submitted for planning approval prior to commission.

For more information about the project, please visit www.ourdomain-reading.co.uk