Olympic inspired Public Art Trail unveiled in Much Wenlock

The trail, sited at William Brookes School, Windmill Hill and around the edge of the Gaskell Field, was commissioned by the William Penny Brookes Foundation for the people of Much Wenlock to celebrate the town’s unique place in the cultural history of the modern Olympic movement and to commemorate the values and inspiration that led to the London 2012 Olympics.

Philip Dunne said: “this Public Art Trail will make an important contribution to the town’s cultural offer, at a time when there is national and international interest in the Much Wenlock story. It will provide a lasting cultural legacy for the town, placing it on the map in the history of the British Olympics”.

The project has been funded by Arts Council England, Shropshire Council through the Much Wenlock Local Joint Committee and Much Wenlock Town Council. The project has been managed by Mandy Fowler of Shropshire based contemporary art organisation Meadow Arts.

The artist Michael Johnson, whose work is sited around the Gaskell Field and Windmill Hill, worked with members of the Much Wenlock community to develop designs for five pieces of work inspired by the different interests of William Penny Brookes; Botany, Trees, Sport, Culture and Industries. Much Wenlock is the birthplace of Dr. William Penny Brookes, the inspiration for the modern Olympic Movement and founder of the Wenlock Olympian Society. Dr. William Penny Brookes set up the Wenlock Olympian Games on what is now the Gaskell Recreation Ground in 1850. These games played a significant role in the revival of the modern Olympic Games. The trail is being unveiled during the 126th Wenlock Olympian Games, taking place in the town from 8th – 22nd July.

The artist Clare Woods, who is based in Herefordshire, was chosen to make a permanent public artwork Brick Field, for the Olympic Park in London. Part of that work has been reproduced and is located outside William Brookes School.

Clare Woods chose to work with the history and location of the Olympic site prior to the development of the Park, to produce a painting Brick Field, which takes inspiration from the traces of the roads, waterways and railways of the site’s history, which were discovered through maps, photographs and old prints.

The painting was digitally photographed and through a complex process of digital printing, screen printing of special colours and water-jet cutting, the piece was realised in tiles, by the specialist historic tile fabricators Craven Dunnill Jackfield, who are based at Ironbridge Gorge in Shropshire.

The resulting work is located on a 7x2m wall, built by Kier Construction and situated at the entrance to William Penny Brookes School and The Edge Arts Centre.

People will have the opportunity to create their own response to the work of Clare Woods and their own landscape, in a series of creative writing and art workshops that will take place in September, led by the Much Wenlock based writer Paul Evans and artist Sheilagh Jevons.

See more information & download the trail leaflet here