Galway City Council is inviting children and the ‘Young at Heart’ to visit the recently repaired Babaró Public Sculpture in the Children’s Millennium Park, Galway. The sculpture was created in 2006 to celebrate the Babaró Children’s Arts Festival’s 10th anniversary – symbolising playfulness and colour, and inviting children to engage and stand in the silhouette of the small girl in the sculpture. The new repairs include replacement of the original glass panels with colourful resin with a theme of ‘wilding’, in response to the new rewilding project currently taking place in Millennium Park.
Visitors to the park will be treated to a visual display of an array of seasonal blooms forming ‘rooms’ of flowers, in addition to the playground with a new sand digging area, a skate park, seating, walks, and accessible toilet facilities.
Speaking about the repairs, Sharon Connolly, Acting Director of Services, with Galway City Council, commented, “the recent repairs of the Babaró sculpture feature new individually designed resin panels which were installed in May, and four uplighters to showcase the sculpture at night. The façade of the sculpture has been sandblasted to bring the stone back to its original colour, and several features such as lettering in the sculpture were repainted. It’s a delight to see this captivating sculpture restored to its former glory, with the resin panels glowing when the sun shines through them. Each resin panel has a natural element embedded within them, from ferns, to daisies and poppies – young and old will enjoy engaging with this lovely piece.”
The original sculpture was fabricated in stone and glass, and was created by visual artist and vocalist Ceara Conway and stone sculptor Mick Wilkins. The designs in the original fused glass panels were inspired by children’s visual art workshops, with the cut out negative space of a silhouette of the small girl in the sculpture over the years becoming a feature that children walk through and squeeze themselves into. Over time, the glass panels were vandalised and removed. The new panels feature resin designs, with translucent qualities like glass, in a range of beautiful colours. Children on the Baboró Children’s Advisory Council made suggestions of incorporating themes of nature and seasons, with nine resin art work panels created in total.
Children’s Millennium Park was recently awarded a much-coveted ‘Green-Flag’ award, which recognises and rewards well-managed parks and green spaces, setting the benchmark standard for the management of recreational outdoor spaces internationally. Quincentennial Park and O’Sullivan Park also received Green Flag awards from An Taisce Environmental Education.
Source: Galway City Council
