Charles Jencks Crawick coal mine art project nears completion
- Published
The Crawick Multiverse will be launched to the public on the summer solstice on 21 June
A work by renowned landscape artist Charles Jencks on the site of an old opencast coal mine in southern Scotland is close to completion.
The Crawick Multiverse will be launched to the public for the summer solstice on 21 June.
Materials found on the site - including 2,000 large boulders - have been used to create the work.
It hopes to attract international visitors and boost businesses in nearby Sanquhar, Kelloholm and Kirkconnel.
The £1m project - funded by the Duke of Buccleuch - follows on from other works by Mr Jencks including the likes of Northumberlandia in north east England, the Garden of Cosmic Speculation north of Dumfries and the Beijing Olympic Park's Black Hole Terrace.
He said: "This former open cast coal site, nestled in a bowl of large rolling hills, never did produce enough black gold to keep digging.
"But it did, accidentally, create the bones of a marvellous ecology.
"The landscape had to be healed, it had to welcome the nearby communities of Sanquhar, Kelloholm and Kirkconnel, and help restore the locality both economically and ecologically - and so the Crawick Multiverse, a new version of an old scientific idea, was born.
"This work of land art, created primarily from earth and boulders on the site, celebrates the surrounding Scottish countryside and its landmarks, looking outwards and back in time."
The site is managed by the Crawick Artland Trust which includes trustees from the local communities surrounding the site.
Trust director Duncan Mackison said: "We are very excited to see this ambitious, large scale project nearing completion and are confident it will prove to be a huge draw for visitors from both home and abroad.
"There has been a huge amount of excitement and anticipation locally and we received some extremely positive feedback at our recent community events in Sanquhar and Kirkconnel.
"This fantastic artland will appeal to a diverse range of visitors, including art and design enthusiasts, families looking for a day out with a difference, schools who want an 'outdoor classroom' and local groups and organisations."