Features

The North East is recognised for being a front-runner in public art with amazing feats of design work including: The Angel of the North (Gateshead), the Bottle of Notes (Middlesbrough), Train (Darlington); and Sedgefield Borough Council are hoping that very soon people will also include in the same utterance The Spennymoor Signs.

Three pieces of public art were launched in the small County Durham town.  The Spennymoor Signs incorporate 2500 different surnames of Spennymoor residents and is a wonderful way of involving the public in this series of innovative permanent artworks. The concept has been creatively conceived and developed by artists Ira Lightman and Dan Civico.

The Spennymoor Signs are part of Sedgefield Borough Council's regeneration campaign (The Spennymoor Town Centre Improvement Project) that is profiling the town's desire to be recognised as a rejuvenated place for people to live, work and visit.

Names are a vital accessory in life that provide people with a method of identification and recognition - a form of signage.  This concept has been cleverly integrated into The Spennymoor Signs project, which has brought together the naming elements of both the geographical location of the town and its residents.

The three red and black stainless steel town centre boundary signs can be found in the following locations:

The Rectangular sign is situated on the corner of Carr Lane / Cambridge Street. The Cubed sign is situated on St Andrew's Lane. The Triangular sign is situated on the corner of Oxford Road and King Street.

Artists Dan Civico and Ira Lightman

Ira Lightman talks of the response he's had during the preparation work for both The Spennymoor Signs and The Spennymoor Letters.  He said:  "Over the past 18-months I've met some wonderful people in County Durham, all of whom feel very passionately about where they live.  It's refreshing that so many residents are proud of their town and want to see it flourish."

Dan Civico, a design artist of Gateshead, said "For me the signs are all about making connections - they visually connect the town boundaries to The Spennymoor Letters through the use of text, colour and form and each piece physically connects to every person in Spennymoor via the use of their name.  This unification of cultural heritage and visual impact will hopefully prove to be an inspiration to the town's residents."

Pauline Freeman is vice treasurer of the Eden Residents Association (ERA) and has lived in Spennymoor for 22-years, and she said:  "I think the artwork is great!  It has been wonderful the way the organisers have asked for public opinion before creating and putting up the pieces, it has given the residents of Spennymoor the opportunity to have a real hands on involvement in the whole process - giving us a warm sense of ownership over the artwork."

Maureen Noddle of Tudhoe, is originally from Durham City and came to Spennymoor over 40-years ago with her first husband.  She experienced the wonderful community spirit of the town when she unfortunately lost her husband, shortly after moving to the area.  Maureen remembers the great empathy she received from the residents.  She said: "I was a stranger when I first came to Spennymoor and I will never forget the way the community pulled together and took me to their heart, it is something I'll be forever grateful for.  The kindness was mirrored again last year when my second husband passed away."

To see more of the signs check out the gallery of The Spennymoor Signs in the "See Also" section in the top right corner of this page.