Harlow Art Trust

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Multiple issues|{{notability|date=October 2018}}{{primary sources|date=October 2018}}}}

'''Harlow Art Trust''' (HAT) is a registered charity based in [[Harlow]], [[Essex]], established in the 1950s to acquire and display public sculpture. Set up by [[Frederick Gibberd]], lead architect of [[Harlow]] New Town, the trust aims to make high-quality art accessible to all. Its collection is displayed in the town in open-air places such as shopping centres, housing estates, and parks.<ref>Whiteley, Gillian: ''Sculpture in Harlow'', Harlow Art Trust, 2005</ref>

Harlow Council has produced a 'Sculpture Trail' for visitors to the town which includes many of the sculptures held in the collection.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harlow.gov.uk/sites/harlow-cms/files/files/documents/files/harlow%20sculpture%20trail%20map.pdf|title=Sculpture Trail|publisher=Harlow Council|access-date=26 August 2018|archive-date=10 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180810174223/http://www.harlow.gov.uk/sites/harlow-cms/files/files/documents/files/harlow%20sculpture%20trail%20map.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.harlow.gov.uk/sites/harlow-cms/files/files/documents/files/harlow%20sculpture%20map%202014.pdf|title=The Sculpture Collection|publisher=Harlow Council}}</ref> These include:

* [[Henry Moore]]'s ''Family Group'' (1954), which is in the foyer of the Civic Centre. When it was commissioned by the Harlow Art Trust it was one of Moore's first major public works. * [[Elisabeth Frink]]'s ''Boar'', in the Water Gardens. Was originally commissioned in concrete (1957) but remade and cast in bronze in 1970. * [[Lynn Chadwick]] ''Trigon'' (1961) - bought in 1963. * [[Auguste Rodin]] - ''Eve'' (1882). Acquired from [[Musée Rodin]] in 1960. A companion piece to ''Adam'', it was to be part of the sculptural project, The Gates of Hell, which remained unfinished at Rodin's death. * [[Barbara Hepworth]] - Contrapunctal Forms (1951)<ref>Gillian Whiteley, ''Sculpture in Harlow'' (Harlow: Harlow Art Trust, 2005)</ref> * [[Angela Godfrey]] - HAT has commissioned four sculptures by Godfrey: ''Grecian Urn: Two Vertical Forms'' (2000), ''We Are The Music Makers'' (2006), ''Flowing Onwards'' (2007), ''The Flame'' (2008) * Sir [[Frederick Gibberd]] - ''Obelisk'' (1980).

==Sculpture Town== On 26 March 2009 Harlow Council voted to approve a proposal made by Harlow Art Trust to rebrand Harlow Town as 'Harlow Sculpture Town'. This is to highlight the collection of public sculptures cited around the town. The new title will be used on council and other tourist publications from the Summer of 2009 onwards, and aims to emulate the former name of Harlow (Harlow New Town).<ref>Harlow Herald (newspaper), 31 March 2009</ref> This celebrates the sculptures owned by Harlow Art Trust and other sculpture collections in Harlow, including those of the council, the [[Gibberd Garden]] and [[Parndon Mill]]. The aim of Harlow Art Trust is to associate Harlow with the name Sculpture Town as readily as the town of [[Hay-on-Wye]] is known as [[Booktown]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181003221154/http://www.harlowarttrust.org/]</ref>

==Gibberd Gallery== The Harlow Art Trust also runs The Gibberd Gallery (named in honour of Sir Frederick Gibberd). The trust has run the Gibberd Gallery since 2011 after taking it over from Harlow Council. The gallery houses the town's sculpture and permanent watercolour collection. One of its previous trustees was the sculptor [[Angela Godfrey]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gibberdgallery.co.uk/index.php|title=Gibberd Gallery Website}}</ref>

==See also== * [[List of public art in Harlow]]

==References== {{reflist}}

[[Category:British sculpture]] [[Category:Harlow]] [[Category:Culture in Essex]]