Nuneaton's Gold Belt
|
The belt's right-hand end | |
| Artist | Alisha Miller |
|---|---|
| Year | 2003 |
| Location | Nuneaton, England |
| 52°31′15″N 1°27′58″W / 52.52083°N 1.46611°WCoordinates: 52°31′15″N 1°27′58″W / 52.52083°N 1.46611°W | |
The 'Gold Belt' is a public sculpture located on a walkway underneath the Vicarage Road bridge, Nuneaton, England. The walkway links Riversley Park and the George Eliot Memorial Gardens.[1]
The 'Gold Belt' was produced as a result of a local arts project between local artist Alisha Miller, Warwickshire County Council and Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council in 2003. The 'Gold Belt' represents a coal miner's leather belt. This reinforces a local connection through Nuneaton's mining heritage and also links to the Union Wool and Leather Factory that used to be located on the site of a supermarket close to Riversley Park.[1]
The Project
With financial support from the Countryside Agency and the Local Authorities, a project developed allowing for research into the local area, community workshops and remininscence activities.[1]
Research included identifying a spot suitable and meaningful for the sculpture. The bridge was identified as a space that could be transformed through having public artwork.[1]
The workshops involved local children and students and was held at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery. Historical talks were given and the participants worked with Miller to produce artwork of local scenes. Some of these local scenes are featured on the belt, along with drawings produced by Miller of other local public artwork and features.[1]
A reminiscence session was held at Nuneaton Museum & Art Gallery, sharing photographs and memories with the older community. These memories were collected and feature alongside the images on the belt.[1]