Caring for Public Art & AGM

First, Bryan Biggs, Director of Cultural Legacies at the Bluecoat: If a piece of public art does not generate controversy and debate, can it be considered ‘public’? With the idea of the plinth monument long discredited, this presentation will look at how creative intervention can recontextualise redundant historic statues that populate our streets and buildings and suggest new ways to think about a city’s heritage, its public realm and how it remembers. How does the wealth of Liverpool’s imperial and colonial public art provide opportunities for contemporary interrogation, not just as a process towards decolonisation but as a way of involving the public as participants in the process of memorialising?

Second, Ed Williams seeks to tease out what, if any, function public art serves. Does it simply litter the urban landscape , or does it enhance it and if so how? Does a plethora of such works truly evidence the city's cultural status , or is it merely 'art washing' with decorative pieces. Should we even care and, more importantly, who benefits and who should be the custodians of such works?

Join us for a glass of wine, tea or coffee and nibbles from 6:00pm.

We request an 'on the night' donation of £4 towards refreshments but there is no charge for this event

Bryan Biggs is Director of Cultural Legacies at the Bluecoat where he has worked for over four decades on exhibitions, live programmes, international exchanges, publications, residencies and a major capital development. He is currently exploring echoes of the Bluecoat’s 300-year history, as both charity school and arts centre, in the present. This is manifested most recently in heritage participation project (2020-22) and the exhibition In the Peaceful Dome (2017). He has edited many publications including, with John Belchem, Liverpool City of Radicals (2011) and The Bluecoat: The UK’s first arts centre (2020).

Ed Williams is an academic Art Historian who teaches at the University of Liverpool; in addition he works at TATE Liverpool in the Visitor Engagement Team. As an arts educator, he has dedicated his career to sharing his love and passion for the subject with a variety of audiences, especially adult learners, through his work with the University of the Third Age, Women’s Institute and the Arts Society.

His work, as an art critic, has been published in a number of specialist journals and publications he is currently working on a new book ‘How to Understand Art’.

Programme for the evening

18:00
Arrival, Glass of wine/ refreshments and an opportunity to network with Merseyside Civic Society Council and Members.

18:25
Merseyside Civic Society Annual General Meeting

18:55
Presentation of the Felicity Wren Awards for Best New Public Mural and Best New Public Sculpture (Merseyside Civic Design Awards)

19:10
Caring for our Public Art presentations and Q & A

20:00
Ends

Getting There

By Car - On street parking at the Pier Head or Liverpool One Car Park

By Public Transport: Close to James Street Station or Liverpool One Bus Station

RIBA North is a fully accessible venue.

Host or Publisher Merseyside Civic Society