Liverpool Landscapes » art

Slum Saviour to get statue, and Knowledge Quarter revamp

Martin — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 13:37:14 +0000

Kitty Wilkinson, pioneer of health reforms and saviour of hundreds of lives during the cholera outbreak of 1842, is to have her statue erected in St Georges’ Hall. She will be the first woman to have such a memorial here.

Currently a shortlist of potential sculptors is being drawn up, and it may be that descendants of Kitty will be involved in the final selection.

Liverpool Knowledge Quarter revamp

The area and roads outside the Metropolitan Cathedral – Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter – are to get £6m funding for a facelift. The money comes from the Northwest Development Agency, the European Regional Development Fund and the University of Liverpool and Liverpool John Moores University.

See also Liverpool’s Knowledge Quarter gets £6m face lift – BBC Liverpool

Florence Institute restoration, LOR film, and Liverpool art

Martin — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 13:08:19 +0000

The Liverpool Echo is reporting that work could begin as early as April on the restoration of the Florence Institute, which has received £3.7 million restoration money from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

£6.6m has already been raised by the Florence Institute Trust, but the new money will allow the construction of “exhibition and performance space, activities for young people and the elderly, an indoor/outdoor sport area, childcare facilities, workspaces for local business and a Heritage Resource Centre”. An additional £1.7m may be granted by the North West Regional Development Agency.

The Echo also has a brief history of the Florrie, which began life as a boys’ club in 1890.

Overhead Railway video to be screened

Seaforth Sands Railway Station, from Wikmedia Commons

Motor coach number 3 is the last surviving coach from the legendary Liverpool Overhead Railway. It was donated to National Museums Liverpool when the LOR closed in 1956.

On Friday 29 January from 1 – 4pm FACT will be screening footage of the LOR, showcasing research into the Lumière brothers’ film footage of the railway, and introduced by Dr Richard Koeck. According to the Art in Liverpool blog:

Dr Koeck will share insights into his research and ongoing production of the film animations that will contextualise and reference the original Lumière archive footage with historical maps of the time, and retrace the precise route of the films.

The LOR and motor coach number 3 will become part of the Port City gallery in the new Museum of Liverpool, due to open in 2011.

Mad About Liverpool?

Of course you are, so head over to the gallery of that name which has opened in Clayton Square. More details on the Art in Liverpool site.

Creative Commons History

Finally, anyone out there know of a good source of Creative Commons historic images?

There’s some good stuff on Flickr Commons, especially from the Library of Congress in the US or the Powerhouse Museum in Sydney, but just wondered if there was source of Liverpool pictures I could use to illustrate this blog and Historic Liverpool.

If you know of one, let me know in the comments!

New Map of Liverpool

Martin — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 13:53:54 +0000

OK, so I’ve already done a post today. But I want to show you this blog post about Stephen Walter’s map of Liverpool. This map is the product of a two year project, and Stephen visiting and falling in love in/with the city.

The most interesting thing about it from my point of view is that the map is geographically accurate, so potentially I could scan it in, geo-rectify it, and add it as a layer on Historic Liverpool. All I’d need is a really big scanner…

It’s on display at the Blue Coat hub. What do you think of it?

Banksy not to be covered after all

Martin — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 16:55:36 +0000

In a follow up to an earlier story, the Banksy image of a rat on the side of the White House pub will no longer be covered up with hoardings. It had earlier been reported that the Culture Company felt it had “no choice” but to cover the lower part of the image. Visitors to the city had complained at the earlier decision.

Culture celebrations begin, the Europe’s Other Capital of Culture and Liverpool’s many face-lifts

Martin — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:51:24 +0000

Capital of Culture Opening Ceremony
This Friday witnesses the People’s Opening of Liverpool’s Capital of Culture celebrations. Nigel Jamieson, artistic co-director for the event told icLiverpool: “It will be something those who go will remember for the rest of their lives.” With a mixture of established acts (Ringo Starr, Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra) plus other special guests) and younger generation artists, the 40 minute show includes cranes (of course), aerial performers and extreme sports enthusiasts. “There will be people performing in spaces and on stages where you’d never imagine them to perform,” Jamieson said.

Related: Merseyside Police ban ’08 related holiday.

Banksy mural covered up -
A mural of a rat by renowned artist Banksy has had to be partially covered by hoarding as part of the ongoing effort to hide eyesores in the city during the Capital of Culture year. The Liverpool Culture Company said it had “no choice”, as the building on which it was painted – the White House pub at the junction of Berry and Duke Streets – is in such a state of disrepair. Interestingly, a different take can be found on the Liverpool Regional Development Agency website, which brands it a ‘dressing’ of the buildings, with six other ‘selected’ structures. This is the Look of the City project, an attempt to cover with artwork as many ugly buildings as possible, while increasing numbers of visitors wander around the town during the next twelve months.

Welcome to Stavanger
It’s not only Liverpool that’s enjoying a year as European Capital of Culture. The Norwegian city of Stavanger, on the south west coast is paired with the British city in holding the title for 2008. The town has a booming oil-related industry, and is well known, at least locally, for its large number of wooden buildings, and ‘Christmas card image’. It is already a wealthy place, and so their version of the event is less concerned with generating tourism and attracting business investment, and generates as much local cynicism as in Merseyside. Details at the BBC News website

Other news:

Garden Festival site ‘should be left wild‘;
The new St John’s Shopping Centre unveiled.