ART TRACK:
METRO ART PROGRAMME

Art Track: Metro Art Programme is a one-year pilot project to create an expanded programme of designs for public art commissions and public engagement activities for the new Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension which is due to open to passengers in 2024.

The programme will see the creation of artist commissioned designs and project proposals for a series of permanent and temporary site-specific, context-specific, community-specific and medium-specific art commissions for Metro station stops, plazas, infrastructure, public open spaces, pocket parks, community settings and trackside sites of the Metro line.

This new green transport route that connects Dudley and Sandwell with Wolverhampton, Birmingham and the wider region will be a linear catalyst for artistic responses to create Dudley’s high-quality designed environment and public realm close to the Metro.

Dudley Futures Exhibition: Ideas for Public Art and the Metro

The Dudley Futures Exhibition was displayed at Churchill Shopping Centre, Dudley, from 16-30 July 2022.

The Dudley Futures Exhibition is part of the one-year phase of Art Track: Metro Art Programme during 2022 and it includes a selection of design ideas for public art projects by 28 local, national and international artists.

Art Track has been organised through Placemaking, Dudley Council using an Art Council England National Lottery Project grant and as part of regeneration it aims to put forward ideas for public art of the future. Artists were selected through both open and invited competitions.

These innovative new artworks are designed for public spaces connected with the new Metro line which will run between Wednesbury and Brierley Hill and is scheduled to open to passengers in 2024. The exhibition is viewed as an opportunity to capture the public imagination and for Dudley people to see the design ideas for temporary and permanent public artworks that connect with people and places across the borough.

Artists have chosen to work with themes that span Dudley's history, often connecting with the land and important geological make-up of the borough, others with its industrial history including the glass industry. Many artists have focused on introducing colour to the Dudley borough landscape.

Check back soon, as we will release more images and details of the artists' ideas.

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Acknowledgements

Art Track: Metro Art Programme has been made possible by a grant from Arts Council England with further financial support from Dudley College and University of Wolverhampton, and in-kind support from Creative Black Country and CoLab, DCVS.

Thanks to Gather Cafe, Jasmine Road Community Gardens, Dudley borough allotment holders, CoffeeGraphy, Anneka French, and MAC (Midlands Arts Centre), Birmingham for their support.