South Holland District Council, in partnership with Transported, has been awarded an Arts Council England National Lottery grant to create a unique art installation in Spalding town centre. The community project, called Flos Pompa (Latin for Flower Parade), will be a ceramic mural created over nine months, lead by local artists Greenfield Pottery with up to 3,500 residents, school children and groups. The artwork will explore Spalding’s connection to flowers and tulips, reflecting the town’s cultural and economic history. The intended site for the mural, Abbey Passage, is so named because it stands on the site of the old Abbey, where monks would have used Latin in their Liturgies.
We have developed an ambitious project to create a colourful and attractive ceramic mural with thousands of residents, inspired by and celebrating the town’s connection with flowers seeds and horticulture. Ceramic flowers would be created in workshops with Spalding residents, and we hope lots of you can get involved! We are looking forward to inviting residents and groups to come along and make their contribution. If there are schools or groups that want to be involved, please let us know. Local artists Greenfield Pottery will be delivering pottery workshops in schools and in the community to create artwork that will be included in the final mural. The sessions are free to participate in, please keep your eye on our events page.
We are really excited at ACE’s decision to fund the ceramic mural community project in Spalding. The area’s connection to horticulture and flowers is an important part of its history, which we want to both share and celebrate, while making the town more attractive and interesting. The name Flos Pompa was chosen because it is Latin for Flower parade, making reference to the town’s historical carnival, but also because Latin is the language of flowers, plants, and horticulture. One kind resident commented that the Latin phrase Pompa Floralis literally means a parade of, or relating to, Flora the Roman goddess of flowers, and the phrase Floral Pomp could also come to mind, which is not inappropriate!
The Latin name also distinguishes the project from the upcoming Spalding Flower Parade and associates it with the scientific terms used to describe flora’s genus and species. The Flos Pompa project aims to foster pride and community involvement in the town and improve the surroundings for visitors and residents. We hope to see a finished product that’s not only improving the area, but also created by the community with newly fostered skills.
