Scottish Bronze Sculptures, Scottish Poetry, Artists, Sculpture Scotland, Sculptors, Architects, NEL, Art, Poetry

Edinburgh Park Sculpture

Herms, Scotland: Edinburgh Park Bronzes by Scottish Sculptors

Edinburgh Park Is The Place For Scottish Poets

Edinburgh Park unveiled its latest art exhibits, a series of 4 herms celebrating 20th Century Scottish poetry, as the newest instalments in its award-winning Edinburgh Park public art programme.

Edinburgh Park Herms

In 2002, four herms were unveiled, and the 2003 instalment sees another four famous poets cast in bronze. The four bronze sculptures standing on stone columns depict the heads of Tom Leonard (born 1944), Sorley MacLean (1911-1996), Douglas Dunn (born 1942) and Hamish Henderson (1919-2002). In addition, the columns display biographical information and extracts of the poets’ work. Scottish sculptors Alex Main, Bill Scott, Michael Snowden and Anthony Morrow have produced the works.

The herms were unveiled at a ceremony attended by Edinburgh Park occupiers, art critics and enthusiasts and other invited guests. The sculptures of Tom Leonard and Douglas Dunn were unveiled by the poets themselves, while those of Sorely McLean and Hamish Henderson were unveiled by their widows.

Ian Wall, board member of New Edinburgh Limited, developer of Edinburgh Park, said: “This programme celebrates great poets and their poetry and provides a series of commissions for Scottish sculptors. The results will enrich Edinburgh Park, provoking thought and providing pleasure to the community, and adding to the stimulating environment in which we work.”

Edinburgh Park’s public art programme has won much acclaim, especially its poetry bus shelter which won the Jeu d’Espirit category in the Royal Fine Arts Commission Building of the Year Awards 2001, and Tim Stead’s ‘Epitaph for the Elm’, which was unveiled in 2001.

Last year’s herms, which have become familiar to workers on the park, were of Liz Lochead (born 1947), Edwin Morgan (born 1920), Hugh MacDiarmid (1892-1978) and Iain Crichton Smith (1928-1998).

A further four herms will be commissioned next year. The project is being overseen by Ian White Associates, Edinburgh Park’s landscape architects.

Edinburgh Park Herms information received Jun 2003

Issued on behalf of Edinburgh Park by Weber Shandwick.

Definition of ‘herm’
A herm is a head, which is a likeness of the subject mounted on a stone or metal column approximately 1.6 metres high. In 6th Century BC Greek art, the structures were considered sacred to Hermes, who was amongst other things god of travellers and roads, of luck, of music and eloquence and of merchants and commerce. They were placed on street corners in Athens and used outside the city as mile stones. By the end of the Hellenistic era the form was employed for portraiture.

Edinburgh Park Masterplan

The Edinburgh Park masterplan was conceived in the mid-eighties by The EDI Group and the first phase was launched in 1992, just after the establishment of New Edinburgh Limited (NEL) as its development organisation. NEL is a partnership between The Miller Group and City of Edinburgh Council Holdings Limited, with The EDI Group acting as development agents for the Council. Occupiers on Edinburgh Park include ICL, John Menzies, Aegon, TelesensKSCL, Oracle, Xansa, Regus, GuinnessUDV, HQ Global Workplaces, HSBC, Telewest, Scottish Equitable and BT.