Somers Town neighbours admit they’re not blown away by public garden sculptures chosen by children

Published: 7th April, 2011
by RICHARD OSLEY

THE clouds have fallen to earth in a public garden square – at a cost of £40,000 to taxpayers.

The government splashed out the money on the three new aluminium “cloud” sculptures in Goldington Crescent Gardens, Somers Town, so that schoolchildren would have a chance to get involved in art and decide what the park should look like.

But, for all its worthy intentions, the finished projects have failed to impress residents living nearby, who say they are ugly and now wish they would just float away again.

Katrina Hazell, who passes the gardens regularly, said: “Art is a subjective issue and everyone’s got different taste, but I think they are ugly. They don’t fit in with the gardens. If they are for children, then they are not going to be much fun to play on. If they are for adults, they’ve failed again, because adults don’t like them. It’s better to have nothing than this.”

Critics have raised questions over why primary school pupils and teenagers had the final say on the sculptures, which the council has confirmed will be permanent fixtures.

Edith Neville and Richard Cobden primary schools and South Camden Secondary School signed up to the project.

Leading public art expert Isabel Vasseur, who visited the gardens on Monday, said: “You can’t just plonk anything into a public space. I think it is very naïve of whoever came up with this idea of letting schoolchildren design what goes in the park.

“This is an important site and if you have money for public art then you have to think very carefully what you are going to put there: get a professional artist to come up with ideas. I’m very happy that schoolchildren had fun coming up with ideas and got interested in art and design, but letting them decide what public art we have is completely different. You have to be so careful.”

Ms Vasseur, a curator and adviser who has in the past worked for the Arts Council and on the redevelopment of Islington Green, added: “This is a very nice setting but these add nothing. It detracts from the surroundings. It is actually an attractive crescent and there are handsome buildings opposite, but these sculptures do not fit in.”

Residents who pass through the gardens said they were not told about the plans, although the council said it distributed 1,000 leaflets and held consultation projects with neighbours.

Pat Tivy, who lives nearby, said: “They just suddenly appeared. I thought they had left the covers on it, but then I saw that this was it.” 

And another Somers Town resident, Angela Inglis, said: “They must have cost a fair bit of money, which is strange at a time when the council is talking about cutbacks.”

A Town Hall spokeswoman said the clouds were not just art, but doubled up as something for children to play on.

“The sculptures were designed with a cloud-like theme as play equipment and have been risk assessed by an independent play safety adviser, as were all play pathfinder schemes,” she said. “The sculptures are made of aluminium, and the whole project cost £40K. The Department for Children, Schools and Families paid for the project.

“The location was agreed with local ward councillors. A number of locations for the play pathfinder programme were considered and evaluated at the beginning of 2009 by a steering group made up of officers from the council’s culture and environment and children, schools and families directorates.”