'The Dragonfly' Lands at Solstice Park
A new sculpture is about to become a distinctive landmark in Wiltshire, as it will be clearly visible from the A303 at its siting onSolstice Park. The 12m by 9m dragonfly was the inspiration of artist Charlotte Moreton and built by QinetiQ apprentices from MOD Boscombe Down, in a unique project involving Salisbury International Arts Festival and Natural England’s Living River project, which is installing water inspired sculptures within communities who have been engaged in their creation.
The project received investment from Arts & Business New Partners whose aim is to engage businesses in transformative relationships with the arts.
Commenting on the project, Neil Irvine, QinetiQ’s Managing Director for Flight Engineering Services at Boscombe Down, said: “Our twelve third phase apprentices spent 14 weeks putting a lot of effort into building the sculpture. In addition to solving the technical aspects of the build, they have acquired new skills in design, creativity and decision making.”
Over a period of 14 weeks, Charlotteand the 12 third phase apprentices worked to transform a Gazelle helicopter into a work of art. They stripped out the workings of the machine, removed and reversed the tail, formed giant mesh eyes and added wings before spraying the whole sculpture with pearlescent paint. The completed creature will be mounted on an 8m pole, from where it can look down on Solstice Park and the neighbouring A303.
Solstice Park was keen to be involved in this innovative sculpture project as it is an exciting opportunity to bring public art, designed and engineered by local people, to the business park development and local community.
Alexandra Spencer, Marketing Executive commented “It was the vision of the local planners to locate public art at Solstice Park and we felt that this collaboration with QinetiQ, and the artistCharlotte Moreton was unique and inspirational and one that should be pursued. A panoramic site was chosen and the scale of the Dragonfly will not fail to impress”.
The Dragonfly sculpture is due to be installed on 30 May 07, and will be officially unveiled by Robert Key MP for Salisbury on 11 June 2007.
ENDS