As part of the Common Lands programme, Arts&Heritage has developed an artist commission for Bartonsham Meadows, through a partnership with Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT).
The commission responds to an ambitious ecological programme through which HWT plan to restore part of the site, which is regularly inundated by the River Wye, to be species-rich floodplain meadows. The Meadows lie within the meander of the River Wye, to the south east of the city of Hereford. In Spring 2023, HWT took on the management of the site and plan to regenerate the Meadows to support a greater diversity of wildlife and an accessible wildlife reserve for local people.
I have been selected as the first artist to work with Arts&Heritage, Herefordshire Wildlife Trust and local communities to develop artwork for the site. The commission will respond to the history of Bartonsham Meadows and is inspired by the multi-decade vision for the regeneration of the site. I will work with community groups to collectively learn from and respond to the Meadows rich history and changing ecology, and the process of regeneration. Through creative workshops she aims to explore themes including land ownership and access, stewardship, folklore, multi-species relationships, flooding, and seasonal change. The creative process will link closely with the WT’s approach to managing and monitoring this first year of gradual transformation.
The first part of the project will build relationships with existing and new communities around the Meadows, using creative approaches to find affinities with species and stories reflecting the histories and future of the site. This will be followed by a design process to develop a series of visual designs, sensory experiences and useable artworks, culminating in a seasonal gathering to mark and celebrate the changes to the flood meadows as they are restored.
This collaborative approach will invite multiple communities to engage with the Meadows, and mirrors the ecological process of re-wilding: trusting in the process, making space for diversity, and allowing for the unexpected.
