Bronze tree for business park

A MAJOR new piece of contemporary public art by renowned artist Grace Weir has been commissioned for the new Vantage Business Park at Coldwinters.

The business park in north west Dublin is adjacent to the N2 just off the M50 (Junction 5) and is located in the Dublin Enterprise Zone.

Fingal County Council has commissioned the contemporary art in conjunction with the Erigo Group, which is developing Vantage.

Weir will create a new bronze sculpture for the landscaped grounds of the park titled ‘Cold Winter Tree’ for the commission.

It comes about because the council introduced specific planning conditions in its County Development Plan, where all private developments of a certain scale are encouraged as a condition of planning to engage with Fingal Arts Office to commission an artist to make a piece of public art.

Mayor of Fingal, Cllr Eoghan O’Brien, said he supported the initiative from the outset.

"Myself and my fellow councillors agreed to this unique provision in the recent development plan and we are delighted to see this exiting piece of art being commissioned as a result,” he continued.

“I look forward to seeing these innovative collaborations between the business communities and the Fingal Arts Office grow to bring art to the public in exciting new locations.” 

The commissioning partnerships form part of Fingal County Council’s INFRASTRUCTURE Public Art Programme under its Buildings and Public Spaces panel. 

A selection of artists from the panel were considered from the submission process for the public art commission. They were invited to develop detailed proposals by Erigo Group Director, Laurence Flood, assisted by curator Aisling Prior and Fingal County Council Public Art Co-ordinator Caroline Cowley.

Grace Weir was awarded the commission for her exciting concept for the site. Her family are the Dukes and the Weirs from St Margaret’s, and she’s an artist of international standing.

It was this personal connection to the site that really sparked her interest in making a sculpture for the Coldwinters location. For this commission, she has proposed to cast a real, fully grown tree in bronze.

This mature tree, with its trunk spreading and forking into smaller branches that will be growing in all directions, will represent a natural order of dissemination.

"A three-dimensional ‘bronze poem’, the proposed ‘word tree’ sculpture will be dynamically read from different angles,” she said.

“While situated in a specific place, ‘Cold Winter Tree will connect people’s imaginations both in time and space to other locations and moments, both near and far.” 

The sculpture will incorporate the bronze casting of words that conjure up the particular character of the location, Coldwinters, and the nature of the site and the activity therein.

The new Vantage Business Park will shortly become a busy nexus, filled with activity as a site for manufacture, storage and distribution.

Weir said she is excited to be making a new piece of sculpture and looks forward to the challenge of casting a full size tree in bronze.

“I value working in the public arena, outside of the gallery and museum, and engaging with people working in other fields,” she added.

“The personal, family connection with the area makes this commission particularly special.” 

Fingal County Council’s Public Art Co-ordinator, Caroline Cowley, also spoke about the commission.

“This public art commissioning process between Fingal County Council, the Erigo Group and the artist demonstrates a forward-looking and progressive interaction between the art and business and industries and it’s a flagship example of how to promote contemporary art in different contexts, for new audiences going forward.”