Public art in Milton Keynes

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Liz Leyh's "Concrete Cows" ConcreteCows.jpg
Liz Leyh's "Concrete Cows"

Milton Keynes in England has a collection of modern art, primarily sculpture, in its public buildings and open spaces.

England Country in north-west Europe, part of the United Kingdom

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to the west and Scotland to the north. The Irish Sea lies west of England and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south. The country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain, which lies in the North Atlantic, and includes over 100 smaller islands, such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.

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Public art

The Milton Keynes Development Corporation had an ambitious public art programme and over 50 works were commissioned, mostly still extant. This programme also had two strands: a populist one which involved the local community in the works, the most famous of which is Liz Leyh's Concrete Cows, a group of concrete Friesian cows which have become the unofficial logo of the town.

Milton Keynes Development Corporation (MKDC) was a development corporation operating from 1967 to 1992 oversee the planning and early development of Milton Keynes, a new town midway between London and Birmingham.

Public art is art in any media that has been planned and executed with the intention of being staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all. Public art is significant within the art world, amongst curators, commissioning bodies and practitioners of public art, to whom it signifies a working practice of site specificity, community involvement and collaboration. Public art may include any art which is exhibited in a public space including publicly accessible buildings, but often it is not that simple. Rather, the relationship between the content and audience, what the art is saying and to whom, is just as important if not more important than its physical location.

<i>Concrete Cows</i>

The Concrete Cows in Milton Keynes, England are an iconic work of sculpture, created in 1978 by the Canadian artist Liz Leyh. There are three cows and three calves, approximately half life size.

There is also a tradition of abstract geometrical art hanging in the Midsummer Arcade of the Shopping Building, Central Milton Keynes. One such piece is Lilliane Lijn's "Circle of Light", though its mechanism has not worked for many years.

Central Milton Keynes Civil parish and central business district of Milton Keynes, England

Central Milton Keynes is the central business district of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England and a civil parish in its own right, with a town council.

In Netherfield Park, Peter Codling's 2003 "Alphabet Artworks" are based on the 26 letters of the English (Latin) alphabet. [1]

Alphabet A standard set of letters that represent phonemes of a spoken language

An alphabet is a standard set of letters that represent the phonemes of any spoken language it is used to write. This is in contrast to other types of writing systems, such as syllabaries and logographic systems.

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Buckinghamshire County of England

Buckinghamshire, abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England which borders Greater London to the south east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north east and Hertfordshire to the east.

Kit Williams British figurative artist, puzzle designer and author of book Masquerade.

Christopher "Kit" Williams is an English artist, illustrator and author best known for his 1979 book Masquerade, a pictorial storybook which contains clues to the location of a golden jewelled hare created by Williams and then buried "somewhere in Britain".

Woughton (parish) Civil parish in Milton Keynes, England

Woughton is a civil parish in south central Milton Keynes, ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire, England.

Stantonbury Civil parish in Milton Keynes, England

Stantonbury is a district and civil parish of Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England, north of Central Milton Keynes, between Great Linford and Wolverton, and south of Oakridge Park. It is largely residential, but the greater proportion of the area is taken up by two secondary schools, a leisure centre with a 25m swimming pool, and an all-weather, competition standard, athletics track.

Wolverton railway station

Wolverton railway station serves northern Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, especially Wolverton, Stony Stratford, New Bradwell, and nearby villages in south Northamptonshire. The station is on the West Coast Main Line, about 52 miles (84 km) from Euston, between Milton Keynes Central and Northampton. The station is one of the six stations serving the Milton Keynes urban area.

Milton Keynes College is a general further education and training college, serving the Borough of Milton Keynes. It also serves the surrounding areas. It also provides tertiary education to Foundation Degree level. Its degree-level courses are validated by the Open University and the University of Bedfordshire.

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki art museum in Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, and has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand. It frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions.

Stadium MK football stadium

Stadium MK is a football ground in the Denbigh district of Bletchley in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed by Populous, it is the home ground of EFL League One side Milton Keynes Dons and FA Women's National League South side Milton Keynes Dons Women.

Central Milton Keynes shopping centre Shopping centre located in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England

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History of Milton Keynes

This history of Milton Keynes details its development from the earliest human settlements, through the plans for a 'new city' for 250,000 people in south central England, its subsequent urban design and development, to the present day..

Bedford & Milton Keynes Waterway Trust is an organisation formed in 1995 to promote a new waterway park, the Bedford and Milton Keynes Waterway Park.

The Redway School is an all-age (2-19) state special school for children and young people who experience severe learning difficulties, serving the children of Milton Keynes and its close environs. The school is located in the Netherfield district of Milton Keynes.

Milton Keynes Greyhound Stadium was a greyhound racing track in Milton Keynes located on the Groveway in Ashland.

Milton Keynes Parks Trust other organization in Milton Keynes, United Kingdom

Milton Keynes Parks Trust is a British registered charity formed in 1992 by Milton Keynes Development Corporation to take over the public parks in Milton Keynes.

Old Woughton Civil parish in Milton Keynes, England

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Hayward Gallery Art gallery in Southbank Centre, Central London, UK

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"The Buszy", built in 2005, is a skatepark plaza in Milton Keynes, England. The skate area is covered almost entirely by the roof of the former Milton Keynes Central bus station.

References

  1. Alphabet Artworks, Netherfield Park, Milton Keynes Archived 2008-06-22 at the Wayback Machine , Artist: Peter Codling, accessed 28 September 2008