Destination HP16

Outdoor Culture is working with a number of local partners in Great Missenden and Prestwood to develop the postcode area of HP16 as a destination for the visual arts. This is my local patch, and it's very exciting to be putting something into my own community.

The area is already something of a hub for the visual arts in Buckinghamshire, with a high concentration of artists living nearby, the excellent One Church Street Gallery and plans for a second gallery in the village.

I was asked to consider how outdoor art could help to regenerate the village High Street in Great Missenden.  With funding from Bucks County Council and the Great Missenden Parish Revitalisation Group, I commissioned the artist Pippa North to run a creative consultation project with the Eco Club of my local primary school.

The children came up with their own ideas for outdoor art around the village, and made models of these ideas out of sustainable and recycled materials that we exhibited in One Church Street Gallery in order to seek feedback from local residents.

The children favoured artistic structures that could be climbed on and played in as creative spaces.  I'll be taking their ideas forward this year in my campaign for a local outdoor gallery in the woodlands near my home.