Mellerstain House in Berwickshire, Scotland, is a striking castellated building designed by the architect William Adam and his son Robert. It features formal gardens and terraces created by Sir Reginald Blomfield in the early 20th century.
I first became involved with the idea of a sculpture park there in 2012. The development stage happened slowly as it was important for me to get to know the family and develop trust before launching into what was a significant new venture for them.
The area is rural so it was important to stage an inaugural project for Borders Sculpture Park that would inspire people to visit.
The summer exhibition, XXX: A Trio of Architectural Installations by Steve Messam (ended 11 September), showed three of his bold sculptures in the landscape. Creating them involved meticulous consideration of the site, its scale, the layers of history and narratives.
The use of non-traditional and lightweight materials that could be easily transported meant we did not deplete our modest budget moving heavy sculptures with cranes.
For example, the work Scattered comprises a group of large spheres that we floated on the lake in the grounds. They had to be installed from rowing boats and became a source of fascination for the resident swans.
It is challenging to work with another historic landscape and consider what type of artwork can have an affinity with it.
It has also been a pleasure to start from scratch with an organisation, much like Yorkshire Sculpture Park 40 years ago.
Walking around and happening upon sculptures changes people’s pace – it makes us look more carefully at the world around us.
Sarah Coulson is a curator at Yorkshire Sculpture Park
I first became involved with the idea of a sculpture park there in 2012. The development stage happened slowly as it was important for me to get to know the family and develop trust before launching into what was a significant new venture for them.
The area is rural so it was important to stage an inaugural project for Borders Sculpture Park that would inspire people to visit.
The summer exhibition, XXX: A Trio of Architectural Installations by Steve Messam (ended 11 September), showed three of his bold sculptures in the landscape. Creating them involved meticulous consideration of the site, its scale, the layers of history and narratives.
The use of non-traditional and lightweight materials that could be easily transported meant we did not deplete our modest budget moving heavy sculptures with cranes.
For example, the work Scattered comprises a group of large spheres that we floated on the lake in the grounds. They had to be installed from rowing boats and became a source of fascination for the resident swans.
It is challenging to work with another historic landscape and consider what type of artwork can have an affinity with it.
It has also been a pleasure to start from scratch with an organisation, much like Yorkshire Sculpture Park 40 years ago.
Walking around and happening upon sculptures changes people’s pace – it makes us look more carefully at the world around us.
Sarah Coulson is a curator at Yorkshire Sculpture Park