Tuesday 23rd October 2012
 The Yards shopping area in Chesterfield's town centre is now home to a falcon and a puppy.
The two artworks are the latest instalments of the Chesterfield Cultural Renaissance project which has delivered several pieces of unique artworks in the area over the past few months.
The project, which is funded by the European Regional Development Fund and managed by Chesterfield Borough Council, was set up to improve The Yards to promote local businesses and attract more shoppers.
The latest artworks, a puppy sculpture in Theatre Yard (once known as 'the kennels') and a falcon sculpture in Falcon Yard were designed by Geoff Woods from Working pArts.
 Councillor Amanda Serjeant, Executive Member for Leisure, Culture and Tourism at Chesterfield Borough Council (left) said: "I think all the sculptures look fantastic. The Yards area is an important feature of the town centre with some great independent shops.
"We want to attract more shoppers and visitors to help the businesses thrive and the artworks are just one way of adding a new dimension to the area."
Lisa Swift from Altered Chic in The Yards said: "There are lots of different creative businesses in The Yards so it's quite fitting that some artwork has been used to make the area more inviting. We often see visitors taking photographs of the buildings, so this will be another added attraction to help pull people into the area."
Geoff Wood who led the design team said: "There's a lot of history to The Yards and we've used this in the design of each piece. Glove manufacturing was once a feature of the small industries in The Yards, so we've used the symbol of the glove hand as a motif to beckon people into the Yards. We're really pleased with the final sculptures and hope they become a much loved feature."
The Mayor of Chesterfield, Councillor Donald Parsons and the Leader of the Council, Councillor John Burrows, will host an event to celebrate the completion of The Yard's improvement works and to launch a "Name the Puppy Competition" on Friday 2nd November at 11am.
The Falcon
 Sitting inside a clear dome is a sculpture of a peregrine falcon sitting on an ice rock (left).
The neighbouring Barnsley Building Society was originally built as the Falcon Inn in the 16th Century and survived in that form for over 200 years.
The Falcon Sculpture was cast by Peter Turnock of CMA Moldform for lead artist Geoff Wood.
The small marble set on the rock was made by Glenn Godden of Steam Punk Glass.
The glass is a vortex and has dual meaning, referring both to the universe and to the twisted spire of the Parish Church.
The siting of the Falcon, on its gold plinth, is at the intersection of several viewpoints into the Yards, enabling it to be seen from Beetwell St, South Street and Low Pavement.
The Ice Rock is underlit to add to its visibility and to encourage people to venture into the Yards to see what this all about.
The Puppy
Designed by Geoff Wood and Chris Cornish, the puppy was made by Peter Turnock and his team at CMA Moldform in Birmingham.
Scaled up form a sleeping eight week old Labrador, the concept for the puppy is based around the History of the Yards.
In the past this area was known as the Dog Kennels because everyone was so crammed together. There are also reports that a dogs' home was sited here in Victorian times.
So the Puppy Sculpture turns those rather depressing thoughts into something new, positive and happy - an image of regeneration, a new life coming to the Yards.
The Puppy sits on a simple gold box, and is underlit to give a soft glow at dusk.
Weighing 700 kilos, the sculpture is 200 times heavier than the original dog and is made from water-clear acrylic resin. It was deliberately made smooth and shiny to be inviting to the touch.
All the artworks in the Yards have been heavily inspired by the history of the area.
There was once a concentration of small manufacturing workshops in the Yards and one of the historic industries was glove-making.
Lead designer, Geoff Wood, took the symbol of the gloved hand as a motif to beckon people into the Yards and so you see three large Golden Gloved hands pointing out the entrances at South Street, Low Pavement and Library Square.
Further into the alleys, are groups of smaller hands holding artefacts that indicate past and current uses of the premises. So a series of tea and coffee pots indicate the welcome available from the many cafes in the Yards. Fruit and vegetables emerging from the walls are a light hearted reminder of what else you can buy locally.
In another alley you see a light bulb in a magician's gloved hand, referring to the fact that Chesterfield was one of the first towns in England to have electric light, powered by transformers housed in nearby Theatre Yard. The bulb refers directly to an early design for an incandescent light bulb designed by Joseph Swan of the Company Brush Swan who provided that early lighting equipment for Chesterfield. The jewelled hand refers to the availability of jewellery in the yards.
Elsewhere, a magnifying glass inspects a small pile of gold dust, and a red hand holds a falconry glove.
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