Dundee Climate Fund sculpture

A NEW PIECE of public art, which will grace the city's Botanic Gardens, has been unveiled in a public ceremony.

Designed by Fife-based sculptor Ailsa Magnus eight individual woodcarvings celebrate the playful vitality of nature, supported by more than 100 ceramic tree bumble bees produced by local school children.

Commissioned as part of the Dundee Climate Fund, with the project managed by local social enterprise ScrapAntics, the sculptures are incorporated in the newly developed sensory garden at Dundee Botanic Gardens.

Mark Flynn convener of Dundee City Council’s city development committee said: “While the Dundee Climate Fund is successfully seeking out and supporting local community projects acting on climate change, reducing carbon emissions and engaging communities, it also has a wider role.

“By commissioning this public art, the fund is using as many ways as possible of engaging with communities to help tackle the climate emergency and get us to our target of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045 or sooner.”

Heather Anderson convener of the council’s neighbourhood services committee added: “These fantastic works of public art underscore a serious message, not just for our local ecosystems but for the whole world.

“Saving pollinators goes hand in hand with saving forests, because plants, woodlands and bees share common threats and a mutually beneficial relationship. Save the trees, save the bees, and vice versa.”

Dundee declared a climate emergency in June 2019 to recognise the serious environmental, social and economic challenges faced by climate change, and launched the Dundee Climate Action Plan with the backing of local companies and organisations.

Councillors Flynn and Anderson were joined at the launch by Ailsa Magnus who said: “This is a project I have really enjoyed working on and the way that the work has been received by everyone involved has been great.”

Sandy Greene, managing director of ScrapAntics said: “I am pleased to see the promotion of local artists' work exhibited in a playful way.

“The hope is that interaction in the new garden will spark conversations across all age groups about our role in supporting a more sustainable future."

More than 100 primary six pupils from St Francis, St Clements and Rowantree primary schools who helped create the ceramic tree bumble bees from pre-designed moulds will be visiting the Botanic Gardens in the coming weeks to see their handiwork in place.

As well as creating bees for the botanics, pupils also made one to keep in school to create their own classroom displays.

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