Morag Myerscough, Wonder Pavilion, 2014. Photo: Max McClure. Image courtesy of the artist, Arnolfini and Bristol City Council.
Synopsis
The development of Glenfrome Primary School is part of Bristol City Council’s Primary/Bristol series of artist commissions for primary schools commissioned as part of the Primary Capital Education Programme. As part of the development, London based artist Morag Myerscough was commissioned by project curators Arnolfini to develop a public art work for the school working closely with pupils, teaching staff and the Head Teacher.
Myerscough’s work for Glenfrome is entitled the Wonder Pavilion, and comprises of a treatment to an existing structure in the gardens of the school. Myerscough chose to work with an existing timber structure that provides cover for the children in response to comments from the school and Head Teacher, who felt the structure could be improved visually and physically.
Linking the main pavilion to the adjacent garden area and growing area, Myerscough’s design employs her trademark graphic design and bold colours which are used to unify this area of the school.
Myerscough wanted to reflect the school’s ethos and values through the work that she produced. She held workshops with pupils from the school in which they created tile designs which would inform Myerscough’s final designs for the interior of the structure.
The work was completed in Summer 2014 and can be accessed by appointment with the school.
This project has been made possible through funding from Bristol City Council as part of the Primary Capital Education Programme.
Morag Myerscough started Studio Myerscough in 1993. Since then, she has produced an eclectic – and sometimes eccentric – body of work that is frequently unclassifiable but which always offers a high level of communication and engagement. She combines formal graphic design methodologies (typography, image making) with highly individualistic craft skills.
But it is her work in the integration of graphics within architectural settings that is her strongest claim to recognition. She has produced many award winning schemes including wayfinding and environmental graphics for Westminster Academy and the Kentish Town Health Centre, which has won a RIBA award, and was shortlisted for both the World Architecture Festival and the Stirling Prize.
Arnolfini is one of Europe’s leading independent, contemporary arts organizations, and is the flagship art centre for the South West of England with 450,000 visitors annually. 2011 is the year of Arnolfini’s 50th anniversary. Since its foundation in 1961, Arnolfini has built an international reputation for commissioning and presenting innovative, experimental work in the visual arts, always with a strong emphasis upon audience engagement. Many thousands of artists and performers have been involved with Arnolfini during this time, often gaining their first opportunity before going on to long-term success, and this wealth of creativity has been appreciated and enjoyed by consistently large audiences. Much of this groundbreaking work would not have been made or shown in Bristol and the South West region without the Arnolfini. Previous major solo exhibitions at Arnolfini have included: Marcel Broodthaers, Bridget Riley, Richard Long and Liam Gillick, as well as more recently Cosima von Bonin in 2011.
Glenfrome Primary School is situated within a residential suburb of Eastville, approximately 3.25 km north east of Bristol City Centre adjacent to the M32 motorway. The school sits within the Stapleton and Frome Valley Conservation Area and on the edge of the Air Quality Management Area. Their mission is that by 2014 they will have a strong and positive reputation for being a leading creative, sustainable school with outstanding results, full of joy and wonder.
As part of the capital development of this school Arnolfini Gallery worked with Glenfrome School and head to select an artist to develop and earlier this year Arnolfini commissioned designer Morag Myerscough to develop a public art work for the school in line with BCC’s public art policy and using the allocated budget for the work provided by CYPS.
