RMJM Art Commissioning

Educational

James McLardy: Ruchill Park & Five Glasgow Schools

Glasgow

August 08

Ruchill Park: 5 Schools Animation

Educational

James McLardy: Ruchill Park & Five Glasgow Schools

Glasgow

August 08

Ruchill Park is situated in the north of Glasgow, approximately two miles from Glasgow City Centre. The park is designated as a local park, owned and managed by Glasgow City Council (GCC). On a hill overlooking Maryhill and the City Centre to the south, it includes a drumlin known locally as Ben Whitton which is the site of a flagpole. The flagpole is a major landmark and the platform at its base offers one of the finest viewing points anywhere in the city.

There is a large population around the park but amenities and events are limited. However, the park is an important regeneration project for the area and GCC aims to increase visitor numbers and make it a more social space. Five local schools - St Cuthbert's, Westercommon, Our Lady of the Assumption, Ruchill Primary and Ruchill Autism Unit - are merging to form two new linked schools to be built on the edge of the park. Other regeneration initiatives include new housing planned for a vacant hospital site adjacent to the park and close to the new school and a Sustainable Urban Drainage System (SUDS) completed in Spring 2007.

The local community is committed to revitalising Ruchill Park and has formed a group called 'Friends of Ruchill Park'. The group is key to strengthening community links and to ensuring that new opportunities in the park engage people.

Art Commissioning: Ruchill Park

With support from GCC, a project with each of the five schools and realised partly in the schools and partly in the park, was commissioned. RMJM managed the art commission with appointed artist James McLardly who researched and developed a series of workshops (with support from artists Jenny O'Boyle and Becky Sic), that resulted in the creation of a new flag, a greenwood sculpture,T-shirt printing, a website and an anmination.

This project was made possible by funding from TRUST. The TRUST project is an international research programme funded by the Europen Union under its Inter Reg 3B programme. TRUST involved five projects in four countries - Belgium, Holland, England and Scotland. The five project partners collaborate on water management projects. In Ruchill, the Glasgow TRUST Project will change the quality of enviornment in the park. It involves making a series of ponds which form Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS). With other projects now being planned, it will promote more public interest in this park, reviving its value and role in the community.