Harlesden’s Public Art – an update (and request for further help!)

 Last month, I wrote about the public artworks installed in Harlesden as part of the City Challenge project in the 1990s. There was one I definitely knew about, the Sundisc in the community garden outside the beautiful and historic Victorian villa at 1 Morland Gardens (which Brent Council plans to demolish!). 

 

The Sundisc sculpture, in the City Challenge community garden outside 1 Morland Gardens.
(Photo by Irina Porter)

 

I asked for your help, with any information and photos that you could provide about other public art dating from this time (1993 to 1998) in the Harlesden and Stonebridge areas. Our intention is to put together an illustrated record of all those artworks, which could be made available online for anyone to view, read and enjoy. We have received some responses, which I will share with you here, but I still need your help, please, to fill in some gaps!

 

I have been sent copies of some photos of two Harlesden artworks that I wasn’t aware of before. These were taken more than a decade ago by Robert Russell, and had been posted on the Willesden Local History Society Facebook pages. Many thanks for these! Because of “lockdown” and staying at home, I have not been out to see these myself yet, but I look forward to when I can.

 

The first two pairs of photographs show a variety of views of two remarkable mosaic columns, situated by the corner of Mordaunt Road and Winchelsea Road, not far from Harlesden Station in Acton Lane. The collage of mosaic pictures really captures the vibrancy of Harlesden life. Can anyone tell me please (via the “comments” box below), what this artwork is called and who was the artist who created it?

 

 

                        

Views of the Mordaunt Road mosaic columns. (Photos by Robert Russell, 2007)

 

The second artwork appears to be a mosaic mural, along a wall beside Church Path, just behind the Brent Samaritans building in Leopold Road. It depicts a street scene showing a range of adults and children from Harlesden’s diverse community, going about a variety of everyday activities. Again, I have not seen this vibrant piece of public art before – have you? I hope it is still there, brightening the lives of anyone who walks past it. 

 

I would be grateful if anyone reading this, and seeing the photograph below, can tell me and other readers more about this mural, including what it is called and who designed and made it. Thank you!

 

 

The Church Path mural, near Leopold Road. (Photo by Robert Russell, 2010)

 

After my first article, someone suggested that I try to contact Gerry Davis, who was the Chief Executive of Harlesden City Challenge, to see whether he could help with any information about the artworks. Luckily, a friend was able to let me have his address. I sent Gerry a paper copy of last month’s article, and he kindly supplied the following reply:

 

‘The provision of Art was done under the City Challenge "Art in the City" project at a cost of just over £150k in the early 1990's. 

 

I regret that I no longer have details of all the Art Works funded by HCC, but I am happy to let you know what I remember.

 

There should be a plaque at each HCC art site, like the one next to the Sundisc. Other Art Works were:

 

·   THE HEAD - outside TESCO in the car park.

 

·   Sculptures in front and alongside the building which was called "The Design Works " on the corner of Rucklidge Avenue and Park Parade.

 

·   Raised Bed Garden and Pavement art, at the roundabout at Craven Park / Craven Park Road

 

·   There were Giraffes at the corner of Scrubs Lane and Harrow Road, but I think that they were removed during the new development

 

·   The murals on the bridge (at Acton Lane, see photo in previous blog) may be HCC art works, but I do not remember.

 

There must be more but I regret that I do not remember them. However, the area was devoid of artworks when HCC started, so any works which are there now are most likely from HCC.’

 

I have managed to “find” one large sculpture outside “The Design Works” building in Rucklidge Avenue by looking on Google street view. Again, it’s an interesting piece, and my guess at its name would be “Men at Work”. Here is an image of it, and any information on it that you can provide would be appreciated, thank you. 

 

 

The sculpture outside “The Design Works”, at the corner of Rucklidge Avenue.
(From Google street view)

 

“The Head” in the car park outside Tesco in the centre of Harlesden was apparently stolen! I understand that this was during a time when thieves removed a number of metal sculptures around the country, to melt down for their scrap value. Can anyone tell me more about this artwork, or send a digital photograph of it (c/o Martin Francis at: martinrfrancis@virginmedia.com ), please? The same request goes for the pavement art on the roundabout at Craven Park / Craven Park Road. 

 

 

Gerry suggested that one of the artworks, at the corner of Scrubs Lane and Harrow Road, may have been lost during redevelopment. I have now read that the giraffe heads were a sculpture by Rebecca Nassauer, and that they were removed (or stolen?) during the construction of a new church building around 2009. Surely a piece of public art showing giraffe heads, and 5.5 metres tall, must have caught the attention of passers-by? Has anyone got a photograph of these missing giraffes, please (even a pre-digital one, which could be scanned)? 

 

 

All of the artworks I’ve mentioned are part of Harlesden’s Public Art heritage, and it deserves to be preserved and recorded so that future generations can enjoy it too. Let’s take this opportunity to celebrate the efforts made in the 1990s to brighten up Harlesden with public art that enriches the lives of residents and visitors. Thanks in advance for the photos and details that we look forward to YOU sharing with us!

 

Philip Grant.

Public Art – a Harlesden Challenge

Thanks to Philip Grant for this intriguing Guest Post:

 

‘Art is vital to renewal. It shows that people care about where they live and work.’ Those words from Gerry Davis, the CEO of Harlesden City Challenge in April 1994, launched a five-year public art project to brighten up an area which had become run down. 

 

But what and where was that public art in the Harlesden area, and what has happened to it since then? If you have any information about, or photographs of, any of those public artworks from the 1990s, please share it with me, so that we can make a permanent record of this part of Harlesden’s history.

 

1.The Sundisc sculpture, in the City Challenge community garden at Morland Gardens.
(Photo by Irina Porter)

 

One artwork I do know about is the Sundisc, which was installed in the Harlesden City Challenge community garden, at the corner of Brentfield Road and Hillside, in 1994. Brent Council plans to build over that site, as part of its redevelopment of the Victorian villa at 1 Morland Gardens, despite strong opposition. 

 

It was made a condition of the planning approval that: ‘the applicant shall ensure the satisfactory re-location of the Sundisc artwork, currently located to the south-east of the site, to an alternative part of the site or in its immediate surroundings.’ The application’s landscape masterplan does not show where this artwork would be re-located to (or any public space large enough for its re-location), so where it would be moved to remains a mystery.

 

The Sundisc sculpture was a collaborative work by two artists. The circle of steel, with scenes from local life cut out from it, was made by Geraldine Konyn, and stands on a raised platform of etched paving, by Guy Paterson, surrounded by a low brick wall. The plaque which stands on a nearby raised bed of shrubs says that this was ‘one of three Public Artworks launched in 1994’, and there may well be more around the Harlesden area, put up over the next few years.

 

2.The “Art in the City” plaque, by the Sundisc at Morland Gardens. (Photo by Irina Porter)

 

 

3.The entrance to the Community Garden and the Sundisc sculpture, from the top of Hillside.
(Photo by Margaret Pratt)

 

Another piece of public art, which I have come across in recent years on my way to outpatient appointments at Central Middlesex Hospital, are two tile murals in Acton Lane, near Harlesden Station. [Regular readers of Wembley Matters will know of my interest in tile murals, at Wembley Park!] These are on the walls of the bridge over the railway lines, and show scenes from the area’s canal and railway history. Does anyone know when these two colourful murals were installed, please, whether they were one of the Harlesden City Challenge projects, and if not, how they came to be here?

 

4.The Acton Lane railway bridge tile murals. (Photos by Philip Grant)

 

There must be other public artworks around the Harlesden area from the 1990s, hopefully still in place, but perhaps some which have already been lost. If you have any information, or photographs, the challenge now is to collect those details together. Please help, if you can.

 

If it is just information that you can provide, please add it as a comment below. If you have digital photos of a Harlesden public artwork that you can share, as well as information, please email them to Martin, martinrfrancis@virginmedia.com and he will forward to me. Hopefully, with your help, we can put together an illustrated record of public art in Harlesden. I would love to be able to share more about it with you, in the New Year. Thank you.

Philip Grant.