Wherever you are, you have to work in line with the rules and regulations of the gardens and respect their ways of working. Years of love and care have gone into establishing these amazing places, often with rare breeds of flowers and trees in situ, so we want to respect what is there and be a part of where we are exhibiting rather than something that looks out of place and “installed”. But there are plenty of questions you need to ask – can we “spike” even if we can’t dig (we have to keep the sculptures secure somehow!), irrigation systems have to be worked around and signage needs to look polished and professionally placed.
I guess the other thing is…no matter how well the set up has gone, and how well we have worked with the venue to establish what we think is a fabulous sculpture trail, the big question that always remains is: Will people come? Sculpture is there for the public to enjoy and ultimately buy so if that element is not in place, then we can’t really count it as a success.
So after all that….and tackling the “unknown unknowns”, when show time finally arrived, was it a success?
Yes it was! By the end of the show, nineteen of our artists sold some 46 pieces of work which is a great result, especially for a new venue. Set up and take down went smoothly and the venue were really helpful throughout. Leonardslee is set to become a destination site for sculpture with their new Anton Smit exhibition, the Walk of Life, proving popular with the public. It was great working with the Leonardslee team and we are hopeful it will prove to be a lasting partnership we can continue in years to come.