An art-full city
SCAPE Public Art revolutionises the open spaces of Ōtautahi and public art practice in Aotearoa by installing free-to-view contemporary public art in the central city. With a focus on its annual ‘seasons’, SCAPE has become the largest producer of new contemporary public artwork in New Zealand. These artworks provide a unique point of difference for the city. Ambitious and high impact, they enhance the urban centre and raise the profile of public art in Christchurch.
Executive Director Deborah McCormick recently resigned after a highly successful 25 years at the helm.
“When I started looking at the vision with the trust, we were committed to seeing an ‘art-full’ city. Now, I believe it’s done, and I feel like my chapter is complete. For me, this is my last season. I started SCAPE at 23, and now being close to 50, I feel it’s a nice time to reinvent myself, you know – look towards the next ten years.”
“I see myself as a producer – taking an idea with an artist and making it happen. I’m going to expand and take on projects in my own capacity. I’m leaving space for the next creative to put their stamp on SCAPE for the next 25 years.”
“I’m exploring different pathways within the same subject matter. I see myself as ‘Deborah: Public Art’, so I like taking art into context outside of gallery spaces, where people can get exposure to public art; exploring new modes of what public art looks like in the future for different publics.”
Deborah mentions that the board is committed to the 25 years of SCAPE, producing more legacy artwork.
“There’s a focus on creating the next suite of public artwork for the city and becoming known as a destination globally for public art.”
The SCAPE Public Art Season 2022 brings works from eight local and international artists to the city. Each artist’s work will showcase their unique interpretation of this year’s theme, Sweat Equity, a compelling conclusion to Managing Curator Jamie Hanton’s overall vision of ‘Fictions’, which has tied together SCAPE Public Art’s seasons from 2020–2022.
Deborah encourages people to take the walkway and see the works as they were originally conceived.
“It feels like a nice compact show, both thematically and geographically. I would encourage people to think about how the curator conceives the project as a whole and the different touch points along the way. You’ve got so many different elements of textures in terms of public art – a really beautiful quiet work by Wendelien Bakker, moving right through to a poignant sound work by Dr Jo Burzynska in the Botanic Gardens. We have captivating works like Cognitive Reorientation by Eddie Clemens.”
SCAPE’s vision is for people to be excited, engaged, and stimulated by contemporary public art and for Ōtautahi Christchurch to be a city with a world-class collection of public art that is widely known and visited.
“Consider supporting the arts – it could be buying an artwork, it might be taking a group of people on a tour or giving up your time to volunteer. If you love public art, get involved. People know people, and things happen. That’s SCAPE in a nutshell, essentially.”