Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

Sculptors Graeme Mitcheson and Stephen Broadbent were invited by Wakefield Council to take a look at their artworks in place at the city’s major housing development.

Councillor Michael Graham, cabinet member for regeneration and economic growth at Wakefield Council, said: “It was a pleasure to welcome Graeme and Stephen back to City Fields and show them their wonderful sculptures in each of the locations.

"They are both great additions to our district’s public art.

Kate Watson (principal consultant, Beam) Tristram Hope (structural engineer) Ross Fullwood (contractor) Kieran Gelder (project manager) Councillor Stuart Heptinstall, Councillor Michael Graham, Graeme Mitcheson (artist) Laura Potts (poet).

“These works were commissioned thanks in the main part to the support of housing developers who are building new homes at City Fields. This has enabled the artists to create lasting legacies that the local community, the city and the district will enjoy for many years to come.”

‘Ever Glow’, by Graeme Mitcheson, was the first permanent public artwork to be commissioned for the new housing development.

The sculpture is located in an area of open grass just off Aberford Road and was inspired by the area’s waterways.

It represents the mass and form of a lock gate and creates the vanishing point illusion of the canal disappearing into the distance. It also includes a beautifully engraved poem written especially for the site by West Yorkshire award winning poet, Laura Potts.

Kate Watson (principal consultant, Beam) Richard Bowler (towns fund development manager), Councillor Michael Graham, artist, Stephen Broadbent and his wife Lorraine.

Graeme said: “The sculpture was inspired by the canal that transformed the fortunes and future of Wakefield back in the 19th Century. It celebrates the city’s waterways and the role they still play in the city and throughout the district.”

Man dead at just 24 after motorbike crash in Wakefield

‘A Living Landscape’ is five separate circular art pieces by Stephen Broadbent which celebrates the biodiversity and wildlife at City Fields.

Recognisable images of insects and wildlife found in the area have been incorporated into the artwork that can be found at the side of Neil Fox Way, opposite the new housing on the site of the former power station.

Stephen said: “I was inspired to create something that would connect the people of City Fields with the local landscape.”

City Fields: Sculptures celebrating Wakefield's natural environment find permanent home in new housing development