Spirit of the Square brings a buzz to the Hive Café

Spirit of the Square is a brand new artwork by Abigail Barker.

A bespoke mosaic has been commissioned by Historic England’s High Street Heritage Action Zone programme and with support from Kirklees Council. Installed in The Hive Cafe in Huddersfield from the 22nd April. Spirit of the Square celebrates the cultural significance of St George’s Square, and how it contributes to a happy, healthy community.

Abigail’s inspiration came from talking to local people about their fondest memories of the space and researching the broad spectrum of events that had taken place in the square over the centuries. In all, over thirty ideas were collected, including the stories about the Food Festival, Light Night, numerous football celebrations, the Lion on top of the Arcade coming to life, proposals of marriage and families catching the train to go on holiday. Time was then spent considering how these events could be grouped into broad categories resulting in the themes of culture, sport and placemaking.

After several iterations testing colour and composition three icons were chosen: the Huddersfield coat of arms, a carnival dancer and a rugby ball containing the date of the formation of rugby league. These images have been recreated using porcelain tiles to create this contemporary nod to an artform with strong links to architecture and history

Liversedge-based artist Abigail said “It's been a joy and honour to work on this mosaic celebrating the history of St. George's Square.”

Gabrielle Hurt, the owner and manager of The Hive is delighted with the new artwork “We at Hive are very privileged to have been chosen for the installation of the mosaic, it will be perfectly placed to be seen by our customers and those visiting our safe space. We would also welcome other creatives collaborating with Hive if they wanted to showcase their work. For more information about Hive please follow them on Facebook and Instagram @hivecommunity_and_cafe”

Craig Broadwith, from Historic England, added: “It’s great to see the breadth of cultural activity that’s being generated through the Cultural Programme for the Huddersfield High Street Heritage Action Zone. The aim of the programme is to help make the area a more attractive, engaging and vibrant place for people to live, work and spend time. Abigail Barker’s “Spirit of the Square” is a wonderful contribution this body of work and compliments the regeneration projects which are underway at the George Hotel and Estates Building.”

To find out more about Abigail’s practice, visit the website below.

A page dedicated to the Huddersfield HSHAZ project can be found on the Chol website - www.wearechol.co.uk/high-street-heritage-action-zone/ Chol and Kirklees Council are working together closely to support the HSHAZ programme.

For more information visit http://www.acreativespace.co.uk/