Value to be found in public art

Guernsey Arts has the ambition to increase the visibility of arts and culture in the island, even to the point of making St Peter Port an ‘arts destination’.

And why not? As Copenhagen trades off its Little Mermaid, at just 4ft tall, through to the Angel of North and other, much larger, iconic works, why shouldn’t Guernsey take a stake?

Or, why should we be embarrassed not to?

Next year we could have a marked-out ‘arts trail’, making the most of what we have already. And now the idea is to extend that and approach significant developers on large construction projects to incorporate public art into final designs.

The ambition for statues, monuments and design locally, so prevalent years ago, has started to feel rather lost in recent decades.

As a community we’ve been almost embarrassed to try for fear of not liking it. The appearance of ad hoc art causes as much criticism as enjoyment.

A proper plan, seeking to cohesively use what artists have called Guernsey’s ‘truly incredible’ environment and landscape, is an important part of getting it right.

Enhancing the island’s offer to visitors and our own pride in our place has a great value.