Woodlands Mosaic Project

Category: Contemporary Public Art

A few years ago, throughout the Woodlands area of Glasgow, a program to limit traffic closed off many of the roads in and out of the area. This made it safer for children and pedestrians and helped to make the environment quieter and less polluted. But how were these roads closed off ? Unfortunately, they were blocked using plain, rough concrete bollards. Rows of eight or nine bollards stretched across the end of each street. They were very functional but not very attractive.

In 1997, artist Karina Young and the arts organisation Impact Arts, initiated a project to transform these dull, uniform pieces of street furniture into individual artworks designed by local schoolchildren. A series of workshops with children at Willowbank Primary School, situated right at the heart of Woodlands, produced a large number of drawings which Karina transposed into scaled drawings which could then be transferred to the bollards. All 108 bollards in the area were clad with a unique, hand-made mosaic pattern. Small, one-inch square ceramic tiles were applied one by one, following as closely as possible the drawings made by the children.

Some of the works were sponsored by local businesses, who were able to have their logo permanently displayed in brass plaques on top of the bollards. Each child has their name and the title of their work engraved into the brass plaques, displaying the varied ethnic backgrounds and diverse ideas of the young local community.

These bollards serve several purposes. They still function as traffic barriers now that they have been enhanced by the mosaic. They also define the borders of the area, so that anyone walking around knows that they are entering or leaving Woodlands. But they are not solid, intimidating barriers; to a pedestrian, they define an imaginary boundary rather than a solid fence or wall. The bollards lend the area a very specific identity; there are no other places which have this kind of street furniture enhancing the urban environment.