Arts Initiative
Arts Initiative

Public Arts Funding Initiative

As part of the original planning application, Bloor Homes agreed to make money available to the district council to spend on works of art on The Dovecote. With interest over the years, we now have £47,798.14 available to us.

Our Arts Fund is held by Vale of White Horse District Council (VWHDC) and we need to fill in a form to officially request the drawdown of cash from our Arts Fund. We need to do this for every project.

VWHDC needs to ensure we are spending the money for the right reason and we have carried out appropriate due diligence, before releasing the cash to us to spend.

Progress in 2022

The Dovecote Arts Committee started work in 2022, based on an initial engagement by our VWHDC Arts Development Officer.

This initiative was put on hold mid-2022 due to the fact that the installation of works of art on The Dovecote would need landowner approval. The land is currently owned by Bloor Homes Ltd and installation of works of art would complicate the handover process.

Due to recent progress on handover, things have recently started moving again!

The Band Reformed in 2024!

The original small team got together again for the first time on Wednesday 8th May 2024. We agreed a way forward and came up with a plan for a number of Arts Projects.

The latest plan is set out below.

Next Steps

  1. Residents have already voiced their support for initial work on Project One – a Noticeboard to be installed at the entrance. Once installed, this will allow us to better, and more inclusively, engage with all residents on The Dovecote.
  2. The next project is ready to progress. Project Two – a Labyrinth has been designed by one of our own residents. We need support from residents to allow us to draw down money from our Arts Fund to proceed with the installation of this labyrinth.
  3. Subsequent projects will emerge in due course.

See below for more details about each of these projects.

A list of projects currently underway can be found below:

Our District Council rep has provided some examples of noticeboards, to spark some interest. See below:

Example One
Example One
Example One
Example One
Example Two
Example Two
Example Two
Example Two
Example Three
Example Three
Example Three
Example Three

We have a Project Brief, which you can download below. This has been issued to potential artists and an artist has been selected.

You can download the project brief. Hope you find it useful!

Next Steps

  1. We have secured support from residents to take this project forward via the Arts Project One voting form - DONE.
  2. A project brief has been prepared and this has been issued to potential artists. An artist has been selected - DONE.
  3. We are in the process of engaging with our selected artist to prepare a design and a quote for the build and installation of the noticeboard.
  4. Once we have a design and a quote, we need to request support from residents to allow us to proceed with the build and install.
  5. We need to drawdown some cash from our Arts Fund via VWHDC to cover the cost of the build and installation work.
  6. We can then engage with the supplier and arrange for works to be completed.

We have an artist on the estate! Carolyn is a Drayton artist who has designed a brick and turf labyrinth for The Dovecote. She has previous experience of designing labyrinths in her art work, using mathematics. She had been a university Senior Lecturer in Mathematics, before retiring and taking a BA Hons in Fine Art.

The design can be seen below, together with the proposed location in the north-east corner of the Public Open Space.

The labyrinth design
The labyrinth design
The labyrinth design
The labyrinth design
The labyrinth location (in red)
The labyrinth location (in red)
The labyrinth location (in red)
The labyrinth location (in red)

Carolyn has engaged with a number of potential installers. She has selected the middle of three quotes, which offers a resilient solution from a reliable supplier, at a total cost of £15,240.

Next Steps

  1. We need to secure support from the residents to take this project forward. Residents can vote for or against this project using the Arts Project Two voting form. Voting will conclude on Friday 11/04/2025.
  2. If residents support this project, We need to drawdown the cash from our Arts Fund via VWHDC.
  3. We can then engage with the supplier and arrange for works to be completed.
up scroll arrow
down scroll arrow