Discover giant hares and ancient trees across Coventry’s University of Warwick campus
A new nature and sculpture trail has opened at the University of Warwick, on the outskirts of Coventry.
Follow That Hare: An Art and Nature Trail is centred on the 1997 sculpture Acrobats by Barry Flanagan OBE, and takes visitors on an informal 6km walk around the campus site, highlighting new and previously installed artworks alongside a rich variety of fauna, flora and wildlife.
Welsh artist Flanagan (1941-2009) is best known for his dynamic bronze hares, and Acrobats – which is on temporary loan to the university – features two creatures in a dramatic pose, one lifting the other over its head.
The animal theme continues elsewhere with Régis Chaperon‘s similarly focused and playful Hare (2018). One of six new sculptural works to arrive on the campus (as part of the uni’s permanent art collection), Chaperon’s seated character resembles a giant origami hare, yet is carved from a single block of Thala stone.
Other works on display around the site, nestled next to buildings, overlooking fields and by the lake, include This Is Days Of Judgement, Cat 1 (2012), a pacing upright feline figure by Laura Ford; Guy Stevens‘ Reclining Stone (2017), which references Henry Moore; and Richard Deacon‘s monumental Let’s Not Be Stupid (1991), the Turner Prize-winning artist’s first permanent large-scale outdoor commission.
The nature and wildlife highlights are just as varied: fast growing Wellingtonia trees, Dawn Redwood, Horse Chestnut, Sessile Oak (once the predominant oak in Warwickshire) and a Chinese Ginkgo, a type of tree unchanged for millions of years, as well as swallows, geese, song thrushes, squirrels, foxes, badgers, grey herons, and more.
To guide visitors around the campus, illustrator Helen Cann has designed a beautifully hand-drawn map, which is available free from the university’s Warwick Arts Centre and for download via the arts centre’s website. Young explorers can also borrow specially designed activity backpacks (available Saturdays and during school holidays), stuffed with everything they need to document and collect treasures they’ll find on the way, including binoculars, blanket, pencils and crayons, and magnifying collection pot, as well as bird, tree and wildflower guides.
Follow That Hare: An Art and Nature Trail is located at The University of Warwick campus, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL. It’s free to visit and open all day, every day, until Saturday 31 August 2019. Parking on campus is free after 6pm week days and weekends.
For more information, see: www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
Direct link: www.warwickartscentre.co.uk/mead-gallery/get-involved/follow-that-hare/
Barry Flanagan: Acrobats
LISTINGS
- SUGGESTED CATEGORIES: Visual Art / Exhibitions / Families / Free Activities
Until Saturday 31 August 2019
Follow That Hare: An Art and Nature Trail
A 6km campus-wide trail featuring over a dozen sculptures by artists such as Barry Flanagan, Richard Deacon and Stefan Knapp alongside fauna, flora and wildlife. Pick up a free map to guide your visit.
The University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL
Free
Open Daily
www.warwickartscentre.co.uk
The Art Trail includes:
WORK ON LOAN
- Acrobats (1997) by Barry Flanagan
Part of The University Of Warwick Art Collection:
NEW WORKS
- Concrete Country in Red (2018) by Lucy Tomlins
- Big Takeaway (2018) by Tom Waugh
- Black Cube (2013) by Lotte Thuenker
- Hare (2018) by Régis Chaperon
- Song Version V (2017) by Jon Isherwood
- Reclining Stone (2017) by Guy Stevens
PREVIOUSLY INSTALLED WORKS include
- Forest Planet (2009 and 2011) by Atsuo Okamoto
- 3B Series I (1968) by Bernard Schottlander
- Wind Sculpture (1985) by Paul Mount
- Needle Of Knowledge Obelisk (1993-94) by Stefan Knapp
- This Is Days Of Judgement, Cat 1 (2012) by Laura Ford
- Let’s Not Be Stupid (1991) by Richard Deacon
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