PURPOSE OF THE REPORT

Transcription

1 REPORT TO: REPORT NO: Executive Board CE/02/16 DATE: 12 April 2016 LEAD MEMBER: CONTACT OFFICER: SUBJECT: WARD: Councillor Mark Pritchard, Leader and Councillor David Griffiths Armed Forces Champion Helen Odunaiya Senior Performance, Improvement & Partnerships Officer Expression of interest from WCBC to host the Poppy ceramic sculptures Wave and Weeping Window during N/A 1 PURPOSE OF THE REPORT To ask Executive Board to note two expressions of interest from Wrexham County Borough Council to the NOW: First World War Centenary Art Commission to host the ceramic poppy sculptures Wave or Weeping Window during EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 2.1 In May 2015 the NOW: First World War Centenary Art Commission invited expressions of interest from across the UK to host either the Wave or the Weeping Window iconic ceramic poppy sculptures, in 2015 or Local social media saw a number of parties across the county borough keen that Wrexham submit an expression of interest to bring the poppies to Wrexham. Partnership meetings confirmed this interest and WCBC put in a bid to host the Wave sculpture on Llwyn Isaf Green. A report (CE/05/15) was taken to Executive Board on 15 th September Unfortunately this bid was not successful. Feedback has not been possible from the NOW Commission, as it is understood they received significantly more expressions of interest than they anticipated so capacity to do this is not possible. The NOW: First World War Centenary Art

2 Commission have now asked for expressions of interest to host the sculptures in We are submitting two bids to host either the Wave on Llwyn Isaf Green (as per the original bid) or in partnership with St Giles Church, the Weeping Window at St Giles Church. If successful we would only be awarded one of the sculptures to host in The closing date for expressions of interest to host the poppies during 2017 is 29 February As this did not coincide with Executive Board meetings a delegated decision was taken by the Chief Executive as per Part 3 of the Constitution. 2.5 The two full bids are attached as appendix one and appendix two of this report. 2.6 This is a unique opportunity for residents of Wrexham to experience the impact of the ceramic poppies from the original display at the Tower of London Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red in a local setting. Wrexham has a long and proud association with Armed Forces and it was agreed that bringing one of these sculptures to Wrexham would be an initiative that WCBC would be proud to host NOW Commission have stated that confirmation of the final selection of locations for 2017 will be announced by 24 June RECOMMENDATIONS That Executive Board note the expression of interest from WCBC to the NOW: First World War Centenary Art Commission to host the ceramic Wave poppy sculpture on Llwyn Isaf green or the Weeping Window poppy sculpture at St Giles Church in REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS The hosting of one of the NOW Poppy sculptures will be another way to show our support and commitment to our Armed Forces Community, as agreed in our Armed Forces Community Covenant signed in April BACKGROUND INFORMATION NOW: First World War Centenary Art Commissions, invited expressions of interest from across the UK to host the iconic ceramic poppy sculptures, either the Wave or the Weeping Window in The presentations will give people across the UK the chance to experience the impact of the ceramic poppy sculptures in a range of places of particular First World War resonance. 4.3 Wave and Weeping Window are from the installation Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red poppies and original concept created by artist Paul Cummins and installation designed by Tom Piper by Paul Cummins Ceramics Limited

3 in conjunction with Historic Royal Palaces. The installation was originally at HM Tower of London in the autumn of Weeping Window is the cascade of poppies that was seen pouring out of a window 20ft from the ground. Wave is a curling swathe of poppies which rose up to create an arch over the entrance to the Tower. The two sculptures, together totalling 7,800 poppies, have been saved for the nation by the Backstage Trust and the Clore Duffield Foundation, and gifted to NOW and Imperial War Museums. Financial support for the presentations has been received from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and the Heritage Lottery Fund, and fundraising for the presentations is ongoing. 4.5 The locations for the presentations across the UK will be chosen by a panel including the artist Paul Cummins, designer Tom Piper, Director of NOW Jenny Waldman, NOW Board member Ade Adepitan, and Director-General of IWM Diane Lees. The panel will consult with the Historic Royal Palaces and other stakeholders in making their decision. 4.6 A number of criteria will be considered in choosing the locations, including ability to provide free access to view the work, the appropriate space to install the sculptures, and relevant resonance with the heritage of the First World War. 4.7 Since the launch of the NOW offer there has been wide interest across Wrexham to express an interest to host one of the sculptures. 4.8 We originally met with partners in 2015 to discuss options and it was agreed that an expression of interest be submitted to host the Wave sculpture on Llwyn Isaf green, ideally between June and September 2016, but with flexibility around the 2016 dates. Unfortunately our bid was not successful and the Wave sculpture will be displayed at Lincoln castle from 28 May to 4 September The Weeping Window sculpture will be displayed at St Magnus Cathedral, Kirkwall; Caernarfon Castle; and the Black Watch Museum, Perth during We now have the opportunity to express an interest again to host one of the sculptures in The expressions of interest are whole county borough bids to host either the Wave or the Weeping Window. The Wave will be displayed, as per the 2016 bid on Llwyn Isaf green, the civic headquarters for Wrexham. The Weeping Window expression of interest is a joint bid with St Giles Church to display the sculpture on the church tower If the expressions of interest are successful Wrexham Council s Corporate Events Team will take responsibility for this event with planning groups chaired by the Armed Forces Champion We will hold a series of events throughout the time the sculpture is displayed to celebrate the sculpture coming to Wrexham and to remember World War one. These will include the Museum running a relevant exhibition, a heritage trail across the town centre and county borough for visitors to follow, with an accompanying booklet. Also a weekly Roll Call of the Fallen held at the poppy location. We would invite representatives of Wrexham s communities to

4 read the names of the fallen, and to be followed by the playing of the last post. We envisage local standard bearers to be involved in such formal ceremonies During 2015 the Weeping Window sculpture was displayed at Woodhorn Museum, Northumberland between September 2015 and November 2015 and then St George s Hall, Liverpool between November 2015 and January The Wave sculpture was displayed at Yorkshire Sculpture park between September 2015 and January The NOW Commission report that visitor numbers to these three sites during that time exceeded 800, Policy Framework WCBC and partners signed our Armed Forces Community Covenant in April The purpose of this Community Covenant is to encourage support for the Armed Forces Community working and residing in Wrexham and to recognise and remember the sacrifices made by members of this Armed Forces Community, particularly those who have given the most. This includes in-service and ex-service personnel their families and widow(er)s in Wrexham. One of the measures in our AFCC is that WCBC, in partnership, will encourage the recognition of Armed Forces through activities such as Freedom, Homecoming and Remembrance Parades and support Armed Forces Day. The hosting of one of the NOW sculptures presents another opportunity to recognise our Armed Forces Budget As each installation will be site-specific, NOW have not been able to give an accurate cost estimate at this stage. However local venues have been asked to cover the following costs: invigilation and security; public liability and indemnity insurance for any damage to the sculptures whilst hosting; local crew for installation and removal; local marketing and PR and public participation and learning programme costs The costs of these proposals are therefore an estimate at this stage but are expected to be in the order of 35,000 each. They primarily involve security and insurance. Attempts will be made to reduce costs to the Council through sponsorship or contributions. The charge would fall to the Council s Events Budget NOW have advised that local presenters will be able to raise funds towards the costs of presenting the sculptures, and to credit the suppliers of these funds. The crediting of these supporters will need to be handled sensitively in agreement with NOW so as not to impact negatively on the presentation of the artworks, or their focus for the local community s commemoration of the First World War Maintenance costs will also need to be picked up locally. This will cover the basic care of the presentation, e.g. adjustment of displaced poppies, removal of litter, etc NOW will provide replacement poppies; where this is required because of failed security, the cost of this will be charged back to the presenter. The unit cost will be less than 50% of the original cost of buying a poppy ( 25 including VAT) Legal

5 Each sculpture is valued at 150k. The guidance from NOW highlights that insurance of the sculpture will need to be covered locally once the installation is complete, for the duration of the exhibition and until deinstallation begins. Any damage to the exhibition will need to be paid for by the local host as per 4.16 above Staffing The Corporate Events team working group will need staff time from a number of departments across the Council. The project will also work with partners across Wrexham, eg St Giles Church, the Royal British Legion (RBL), Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Families Association (SSAFA), and REME 160 brigade who will be able to provide some volunteering capacity Equality / Human Rights If our expression of interest is successful we will undertake a full EIA of this project Risks If our expression of interest is successful we will undertake a full Risk Assessment of this project. 5 CONSULTATION The expressions of interest was submitted in consultation with Rev. Jason Bray from St Giles Church, the Leader, Deputy Leader, Armed Forces Champion and Lead Member for Economic Development and Regeneration, as well as external partners including the RBL, SSAFA, REME 160 brigade, and Ian Lucas MP and Lesley Griffiths AM. 6 SCRUTINY COMMITTEE COMMENTS N/A BACKGROUND PAPERS LOCATION WEBSITE INFO.