Coalface to Wildspace: Speaking Sculptures

The final phase of the Coalface to Wildspace project involved the creation of spectacular wildlife-themed ‘Speaking Sculptures’.

These sculptures were created through a series of fun community art workshops, in partnership with professional artists from Juneau Projects. During these sessions, community members worked together to design how they would like the sculptures to look and create clay animals and plants. These clay models were then cast into aluminium and painted to make lively designs at the heart of the sculptures. Finally, everyone worked together to create inspiring, nature focused soundscapes that can be accessed via QR codes.

To ensure that this amazing community artwork benefits both people and wildlife, 2 habitats are incorporated into each sculpture. This includes wonderful bird boxes made by the Caldmore Community Gardens Mens Shed.

These sculptures have been installed into 8 greenspaces around Walsall, to give the a lasting legacy to the Coalface to Wildspace project that people can enjoy in the future. Speaking Sculpture Celebration Festival activities are now being held at each site to celebrate these spectacular community made sculptures.

Community Art Workshops

Through our Speaking Sculptures community arts workshops we worked with a range of wonderful community groups and local people to create our spectacular sculptures. Here are what some of them have to say about the project:

Rokshana Akter, from the Aaina hub said “I spoke to a couple of the ladies [who took part in the workshops], and some mentioned that it felt like a special experience, especially as they were not from the area and hadn’t visited the park before. They were excited to see their clay sculptures on display and commented on how it really brightened up the space. Seeing their creations in the park made them feel proud, and some also expressed how it gave them a deeper connection to the community by knowing their work contributed to enhancing the park.”

Sharon Hammonds from the Stan Ball Centre shared that “[the workshop participants] are proud of the structure created and are happy they can take family and friends to see it” and that the through the Speaking Sculptures workshops “service users were able to gather information and knowledge and put it to good use in their community. Hopefully there will be future projects that we will be included in.”

Estelle Fisher says that ‘Our community groups here at Caldmore Community Garden have really enjoyed working on the Speaking Sculptures project with Froglife and Juneau Projects. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for our groups to work together on a nature related art project and to be able to bring families and friends to see the results. It’s a creative and vibrant way to provide a habitat for insects, bugs and birds. Everyone felt really proud when they saw the sculpture installed in the garden. The Mens Shed group in particular love that their bird boxes have been installed on these sculptures across Walsall’.