Groundbreaking : 20 Years of Public Art

As the growth of art in public places continues, Groundbreaking is a timely look at this field from the perspective of one of the leading organisations in the field. Cywaith Cymru/Artworks Wales (formerly the Welsh Sculpture Trust) was among the very earliest bodies which developed and promoted public art in Britain.

Groundbreaking reviews more than twenty years of changing practice at Cywaith Cymru through essays, illustration and case studies by artists and practioners. Past trends, current thinking and future orientations are all explored, as are the cultural contexts in which public art takes place and its social significance, both of which are drivers of its distinctiveness. The projects it addresses range from art interventions in the rural landscape to civic art, an increasingly important area in the current era of inter-regional and inter-city rivalry.

Heavily illustrated in colour, this book is an inspirational and provocative guide for artists, students, cultural workers, local authorities and the general reader alike.

Contributors to Groundbreaking include Hugh Adams, Shelagh Hourahane, Peter Lord, Stephen West, Robin Campbell and Simon Fenhoulet.

Editor and artist Iwan Bala is currently a project co-ordinator with Cywaith Cymru. He is the author of Here + Now and editor of Certain Welsh Artists. His own art is examined in Offerings + Reinventions.