Credit: Harriet Hand. Imagineering workshop image
Synopsis
Bristol City Council is working alongside local residents, businesses, and landowners, to guide the long-term transformation of East Bedminster, including the delivery of Bedminster Green as a thriving new neighbourhood in the heart of South Bristol.
Bedminster Green is a development area made up of five sites (plots) which will collectively welcome around 3,500 new residents to the area.
The scale of development presents an exciting opportunity to embed public art at the core of the area’s identity, in line with Bristol City Council’s Public Art Policy.
To make this vision a reality, Bristol City Council’s Arts Development team has partnered with Bedminster Green developers, securing co-investment to commission public art consultants Ginkgo Projects. Their engaged approach guided the creation of a public art strategy that balances a cohesive artistic vision with the unique timelines and planning requirements of each development. The site wide strategy was further supported by a development-specific public art plan approach to ensure individual developments could meet their independent timelines and pathways through planning.
Description
Bedminster Green is a development area made up of five sites (plots) being redeveloped with residential-led, mixed-use schemes. The development sites will collectively bring around 3,500 new residents to the heart of East Bedminster and help to boost the economy of East Street – Bristol’s oldest high street – and its ecosystem of proudly independent businesses.
With change on this scale comes a unique opportunity for a site-wide delivery of public art, aligning with Bristol City Council’s Public Art Policy.
The ‘Futureweave’ strategy, developed by public art consultants Ginkgo Projects, sets out a bold vision for cultural programming and creative interventions across the regeneration area. Shaped in collaboration with developers and informed by a community ‘Hive’ group, ‘Futureweave’ lays the foundations for long-term cultural presence in Bedminster Green and its surrounding areas.
Each development site has its own public art strategy, designed to compliment the wider vision, while allowing flexibility for individual projects to evolve on their own timelines.
The residencies will explore three key themes, relevant across the entire site:
Shared Happenings – (bringing people together)
Greening – Weaving nature into the urban environment, connecting residents to local green and blue spaces.
Connecting Narratives – Celebrating the area’s past and future through storytelling, memory, and creative expression.
These themes will deliver on broader priorities such as skills development, community engagement, and legacy-building.
While these areas of activity provide structure, the creative projects that emerge will be fluid, often blurring boundaries between physical, digital and experiential art. Some will take shape in the built environment, while others will leave lasting impressions through moments of connection between artists, residents and communities.
With Futureweave, Bedminster Green is not just being built—it’s being woven into the cultural fabric of Bristol.
