About the work
This bench was designed by Connections Art Group and brought to life by artist Samuel Lindup. It uses a colourful collage of images celebrating Midsomer Norton High Street, with a particular focus on the different urban animals that might be encountered there.
About the artists
Samuel Lindup
Samuel Lindup is a Trowbridge-based painter who describes his work as embracing the far reaches of his mind where sci-fi meets spirituality. Depicting things that grow and evolve, in his work you will find imagery in the form of plants and planets, solar systems and symbols inspired by religion and cave paintings. Samuel has been involved in many public art projects and murals in the south west such as ‘The Lions of Bath’ and ‘Wow, Gorillas’ in Bristol. You can see more of his work here.
Connections Art Group
Connections Art Group is a group of disabled artists with physical impairments and learning difficulties who have no formal training in art. They meet as a group and work on individual and group projects bringing their unique styles and abilities into a creative team effort for joint projects. They start out with a collection of individual drawings and with technical support from their tutors then bring them into a digital world where they are embracing new skills in digital colouring. They were interested in producing a design for a bench as part of this project and representing disabled artists, showing that they are a group of artists with creative abilities who can produce unique and engaging art to challenge the perceived limitations of disability.
You can find out more about them here.
About the Location
The Urban Animals bench is located in the Garden of Friendship, which is in the grounds of The Church of the Holy Ghost. This historic Grade II* listed structure is one of the oldest buildings in Midsomer Norton. You can learn more about it on the Myths & Memories of Midsomer Norton audio trail.