Here David Pierce, Founder of DPQ, outlines the background to the Public Art Plan and their practice.
It was a misty January morning when we first visited the ‘Western Expansion Area’ in 2017. Recently completed streets quickly disappeared into the fog and we found ourselves following enigmatic paths into the landscape beyond. We were struck by how the site acted as the frontier between the town and country.
A few weeks later we were appointed by Milton Keynes Council to undertake a period of research and development in and around what is now Fairfields and Whitehouse. Our work sought to contribute to the creation of the identity of these new communities and sense of place through the creation of a public art plan of creative projects and commissions.
Over the three years we worked on the public art plan we became convinced of the critical role public art can perform here; connecting the community, building identity and revealing history, as well as adding to residents’ cultural lives. Our work built on the creative engagement undertaken with local people and other stakeholders by Carlos Cortes and Douglas Noble undertaken before we were appointed. As we developed project proposals we engaged with the developer, council, and community representatives to agree the strategic direction of the work.
In May 2017, we visited the Milton Keynes City Discovery Centre at Bradwell Abbey. This hugely inspiring visit was a chance for us to understand the way Milton Keynes has developed and the ground-breaking work of designers and artists involved in MK’s genesis. What caught our imaginations was that the areas of Whitehouse and Fairfield were part of the original 1966 Ministry of Housing and Local Government’s Draft Order for the New Town. However, when the Housing Minister Anthony Greenwood made his formal announcement on 23 January 1967 the designated area was reduced and didn’t include the area around Calverton.
It’s almost certain that if the original designation had gone ahead, the MK grid would have extended through to Fairfields and Whitehouse. We’ll never know what this would have looked like, but it got us thinking, what if we extended a conceptual grid over the area and marked the intersection points of the grid-squares with artworks? These artworks could be large or small, and fall into one of three scales: node, furniture or landmark. The scale that we have assigned to each project has been informed by several drivers including landscape features, visibility from long-distance footpaths, proposed community features and bridleways. The intention is that this document will become a framework for future public art commissions.
