WHEELS PARK COMMISSION FOR EVERTON PARK Liverpool

WHEELS PARK COMMISSION FOR EVERTON PARK
Liverpool Biennial in partnership with Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision and Friends
of Everton Park have commissioned leading South Korean artist Koo Jeong A to design a
new wheels park for Everton Park.
Subject to planning permission, this will be the last of four wheels parks produced and
built in Liverpool as part of a citywide project.
In 2012, Koo Jeong A designed and built OTRO, a glow-in-the-dark skate park in France.
In Everton, the artist has been working closely with the City Skaters community and young
people to devise the wheels park, which will be made with luminous concrete to give it a
glowing effect.
Sally Tallant, Director of Liverpool Biennial said: “We are thrilled to be working with such
an established artist as Koo Jeong A in creating a new cultural destination for the city. The
vision for the Wheels Park is for it to become a new public artwork for Liverpool which will
bring an international audience to Everton Park.”
Koo Jeong A is known for her minimalist art installations. Since the early 1990s, the artist
has worked in various media, making works that are seemingly casual and commonplace,
yet at the same time remarkably precise and considered. Koo Jeong A often incorporates
objects, still and moving images, audio elements, as well as stench within site-specific
environments. Major solo exhibitions of her work include: Koo Jeong A: 16:07, Kunsthalle,
Dusseldorf (2012); OTRO, Centre international d’art et du paysageIle de Vassivière,
Vassivière (2011); Constellation Congress, Dia, USA (2010); Koo Jeong A, Aspen Art
Museum, Aspen (2008); amongst others.
For this project, Koo Jeong A and her team have worked on an incredibly complex and
unique design, to realise an exciting skateable wheels park for Everton. The artist is
working collaboratively with Wheelscape Skatepark designers on the production and
construction of the project.
The wider proposals for Everton Park include a series of walks – Five Pathways – created
around the themes of food, art, lookout, activity and history. Regular events will be held to
further attract people in to the park.
The ambitious plans also include a Sky Pier visitor centre, gallery space and café with
views across the city.
The park will be managed and maintained by The Land Trust, in conjunction with their
community partners, the Friends of Everton Park. Alison Whitehead, Development
Manager at The Land Trust said: “We’re really excited to be involved. Our role is to work
with the Friends of Everton Park to involve skaters in the maintenance of the wheels park
and ensure that it is open and managed for many years to come.”
The Wheels Park is expected to open in Easter 2015 and the whole project for Everton
Park should be completed by summer 2015.
The Wheels Park Project in Everton Park is part of the Mayor of Liverpool’s skate park
ambition, which earlier this year saw the opening of Scargreen Recreation Ground in
Norris Green. The park features state of the art ramps and slides, a play area, picnic
tables and astroturf pitches.
Mayor Joe Anderson said: “We asked young people in the city what they wanted and they
have really driven the agenda on skate parks. The plans for Everton Park are really
exciting and I am sure will capture the imagination of the young people. Once again
Liverpool is leading the way.”
Further sites for wheels parks include Dingle Bank and Otterspool.
www.biennial.com
-
ENDS –
EDITORS NOTES
Planning Permission & Timeline
This project is subject to planning permission.
Project timeline:
Mid-October 2014 – Designs submitted to planning permission
January/February 2015 – Building in Everton Park starts
Easter 2015 – Wheels Park opens
Liverpool Biennial
Liverpool Biennial is an ongoing programme platform for research, commissioning and
presenting international art, education and debate. Every two years, the Biennial
Exhibition brings an international focus to our work. It is the moment when the world
comes to Liverpool to engage with our thinking and we present art to the world.
Liverpool Biennial 2014: The UK Biennial of Contemporary Art
5 July – 26 October
International art that unfolds across Liverpool’s spaces, places and galleries.
The 8th Liverpool Biennial Exhibition, A Needle Walks into a Haystack, is curated by Mai
Abu ElDahab and Anthony Huberman. It takes place across the city at venues, public
spaces and galleries including The Old Blind School, the Bluecoat, FACT, Tate Liverpool
and St. Andrews Gardens. Also featured in Liverpool Biennial 2014 are the John Moores
Painting Prize, Bloomberg New Contemporaries, and shows at Open Eye Gallery and
LJMU’s Exhibition Research Centre. In addition, there is work by artists and curators in
solo and group shows and performances throughout the city. http://www.biennial.com
Koo Jeong A Biography
Since the early 1990s, Koo Jeong A has made works that are seemingly casual and
commonplace, yet at the same time remarkably precise, deliberate, and considered. Her
reflections on the senses incorporate objects, still and moving images, audio elements,
and aromas within site-specific environments that question the limits of fact and fiction, the
imaginary and actuality of our world.
Koo Jeong A was born in 1967 in Seoul, Korea. Major solo exhibitions of her work
include: Koo Jeong A: 16:07, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (2012); OTRO, Centre international
d’art et du paysageIle de Vassivière, Vassivière (2011); E opened his eyes he is now
walking, CCA KITAKYUSHU Project Gallery, Kitakyushu (2011);Constellation Congress,
DIA Art Foundation, Dia:Beacon, Beacon, The Dan Flavin Art Insitute, Bridgehampton
(2010); Koo Jeong A, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2008); Flash Cube at Leeum, Samsung
Museum of Art, Seoul (2007). Significant group exhibitions include: Real DMZ Project
2013: Borderline, Border area near DMZ, Cheorwon-gun, Gangwon-do, South Korea
(2013); En suspension, FRAC – Pays de la Loire, Carquefou, France (2013); In Situ,
Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art, Kitakyushu, Japan (2013); Media Landscape – Zone
East, Liverpool Biennial, Liverpool (2010); amongst others.
The Land Trust
The Land Trust is a not for profit organisation that provides a cost effective management
solution for open space and green infrastructure. This land can deliver significant
community benefits, improving health, social cohesion, providing an educational resource
and uplifting the local economy.
The aim of the Trust is to provide long-term sustainable management of open spaces
across the country. We have around 2,000 hectares of land in our portfolio and a strong
balance sheet to provide financial stability. Our open spaces are a crucial part of the
social landscape, delivering a range of significant benefits for residents and businesses.
Safe and accessible open space allows communities to come together and individuals to
develop and relax through physical activity and recreation. Well designed and maintained
open spaces are outdoor classrooms, gyms and theatres. They change lifestyles and
improve health and well-being, so we take them seriously. http://www.thelandtrust.org.uk
The proposed works have received formal authorisation for capital expenditure via cabinet
authority (18 July 2014) and revenue support for maintenance has been allocated in future
Community Services budgets.
Friends of Everton Park
“Developing Everton Park into a place of beauty, history, ecological interest, health and
wellbeing, education, arts and culture, sports and fitness, cultivation and social and
employment opportunity - for generations to come.” The idea of a wheels park within
Everton Park was initiated by the Friends of Everton Park in September 2012 when a
working group was established to bring the project to fruition. The group has continued to
meet regularly since then to guide the project. Events in the Park are core business for the
Friends who are nearing the end of their 2014 programme which will have supported or
delivered a total of 19 separate events within the Park since May this year, attracting
thousands of residents and visitors. The whole regeneration and development of Everton
Park is scheduled for completion in 2025. http://www.friendsofevertonpark.org
Liverpool Vision
Liverpool Vision is the city’s economic development company which integrates economic
development and business and enterprise support designed to accelerate the city’s
growth and build a sustainable economy. Liverpool Vision has played a pivotal role in coordinating the delivery of the city’s economic and physical renaissance over the last
decade working within the strategic leadership of the City Council and the Mayor of
Liverpool. As the city’s business facing company our primary focus is showcasing
Liverpool’s opportunities in international markets, maintaining our position as a cultural
capital and maintaining the conditions in which the private sector can create a dynamic
and innovative economy
Liverpool Biennial is funded and supported by