Home Grown: Art and the Cultivation of a Neighbourhood

Author: Oliver Bennett
Artists: Patricia Mackinnon-Day, Lubna Chowdhary, Richard Heeps and Kirsten Lavers
Location: Orchard Park, North Cambridge

Commissions East worked with Gallagher Estates and South Cambridgeshire District Council to develop a public art strategy for a new 900 home mixed-use development, Orchard Park (formerly Arbury Park), located on the northern fringe of Cambridge. Lead artist Patricia Mackinnon-Day participated in the master-planning process and undertook a broad public engagement programme. Artists Lubna Chowdary, Richard Heeps and Kirsten Lavers were also commissioned to undertake projects that would locate art at the heart of the development.

In a publication commissioned by South Cambridgeshire Commissions East about the project, writer Oliver Bennett examines the realisation of the work undertaken by Mackinnon-Day and the other commissioned artists. ‘Home Grown: Art and the Cultivation of a Neighbourhood’ examines the part art can play in the creation of a new neighbourhood and furthers the debate about the role of public art in urban design.