La Vaque dé Jèrri, John McKenna, bronze, 2001. Close to the former Cattle Market in Beresford Street, the piece celebrates the Jersey Cow and the 50th anniversary of the World Jersey Cattle Bureau.
Liberation Sculpture,Liberation Square by Philip Jackson, bronze, 1995
Lé Bouân Crapaud, Gordon Young, stone, 2004. Jersey was the last Channel Island to be cut off after the Ice Age so the common toad occurs only here, the reason Jersey people are known colloquially as ‘crapauds’using the Jèrriais
General Sir George Don, Pierre Robinet, bronze, 1885. Parade Gardens, St Helier.
La Croix de la Reine, Louis Chataignère (designer Cyril Warren), granite, 1978 celebrating the Silver Jubilee of HM The Queen
Public Art in St Helier
This guide, published by Jersey Public Sculpture Trust, highlights some of the rich historic legacy of public art in St Helier.
Almost one hundred years after the installation of Georges Wallet’s statue of Queen Victoria, the Jersey Public Sculpture Trust was founded through the vision of Pat Carter MBE to promote public art, help create awareness of its enormous potential and to commission new work.
A voluntary body, the JPST has been remarkably successful in placing public art on the cultural agenda. It has promoted the work of local artists, campaigned for a policy for percentage for art now adopted by the Planning and Environment Department, and successfully commissioned a number of pieces which have become part of the St Helier townscape.
With such vision and determination, public art can serve to reinforce identity and sense of place as is evident, for example, in Philip Jackson’s Liberation Sculpture and Carole Vincent’s Les Jongleurs at Snow Hill, both popular pieces commissioned by the JPST during the 1990s.
The trust believes in public and community involvement as far as possible and, while the selection and placement of pieces can sometimes be controversial, the experience is generally that a strong sense of pride and ownership eventually asserts itself.
This leaflet not only serves to guide but also to record: it provides a source document for students in education and art history in Jersey.
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