New 'Glow-In-The-Dark' Wheels Park Commission For Everton Park
Liverpool Biennial in partnership with Liverpool City Council, Liverpool Vision and Friends of Everton Park have commissioned leading South Korean artist Koo Jeong A to design a new wheels park for Everton Park.
Subject to planning permission, this will be the last of four wheels parks produced and built in Liverpool as part of a citywide project.
In 2012, Koo Jeong A designed and built OTRO, a glow-in-the-dark skate park in France. In Everton, the artist has been working closely with the City Skaters community and young people to devise the wheels park, which will be made with luminous concrete to give it a glowing effect.
Sally Tallant, Director of Liverpool Biennial said: “We are thrilled to be working with such an established artist as Koo Jeong A in creating a new cultural destination for the city. The vision for the Wheels Park is for it to become a new public artwork for Liverpool which will bring an international audience to Everton Park.”
Koo Jeong A is known for her minimalist art installations. Since the early 1990s, the artist has worked in various media, making works that are seemingly casual and commonplace, yet at the same time remarkably precise and considered. Koo Jeong A often incorporates objects, still and moving images, audio elements, as well as stench within site-specific environments.
Major solo exhibitions of her work include: Koo Jeong A: 16:07, Kunsthalle, Dusseldorf (2012); OTRO, Centre international d’art et du paysageIle de Vassivière, Vassivière (2011); Constellation Congress, Dia, USA (2010); Koo Jeong A, Aspen Art Museum, Aspen (2008); amongst others.
For this project, Koo Jeong A and her team have worked on an incredibly complex and unique design, to realise an exciting skateable wheels park for Everton. The artist is working collaboratively with Wheelscape Skatepark designers on the production and construction of the project.
The wider proposals for Everton Park include a series of walks – Five Pathways – created around the themes of food, art, lookout, activity and history. Regular events will be held to further attract people in to the park.
The ambitious plans also include a Sky Pier visitor centre, gallery space and café with views across the city.
The park will be managed and maintained by The Land Trust, in conjunction with their community partners, the Friends of Everton Park. Alison Whitehead, Development Manager at The Land Trust said: “We’re really excited to be involved. Our role is to work with the Friends of Everton Park to involve skaters in the maintenance of the wheels park and ensure that it is open and managed for many years to come.”
The Wheels Park is expected to open in Easter 2015 and the whole project for Everton Park should be completed by summer 2015.
The Wheels Park Project in Everton Park is part of the Mayor of Liverpool’s skate park ambition, which in 2014 saw the opening of Scargreen Recreation Ground in Norris Green. The park features state of the art ramps and slides, a play area, picnic tables and astroturf pitches.
Mayor Joe Anderson said: “We asked young people in the city what they wanted and they have really driven the agenda on skate parks. The plans for Everton Park are really exciting and I am sure will capture the imagination of the young people. Once again Liverpool is leading the way.”
Further sites for wheels parks include Dingle Bank and Otterspool.
For More Info On Liverpool Biennial Visit Their Official Site Here.
