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After eight years in the making the controversial arts venue The Public opens its doors today and for anyone wanting to know what it’s all about, the clue’s in the name.
The gallery and the building itself is all centred around its visitors and invites them to build their own “digital portfolio” as they make their way around – before getting the opportunity to create their own art work and print it off on T-shirts and other souvenirs.
Frantic last minute preparations are being carried out on the striking pink and black building in the heart of West Bromwich which will begin welcoming members of the public on Saturday.
There is no sign of a menu at the cafe, for example, although staff say they will include Black Country favourites like faggots for £6.50, or an all-day breakfast, costing £6.95.
The Express & Star was today given a tour of what people can expect if they journey inside.
There are a series of permanent exhibitions, temporary exhibitions, public space and meeting areas in the form of spaces with names such as the sock and lily pads.
Whether the public will be willing to spend almost £7 a time to tour their namesake remains to be seen, but those associated with the project were today uniformly upbeat.
Architect Julian Flannery, behind such buildings as Selfridges in Birmingham, said: “This one has been far more challenging.
“We only took control part of the way into the project and also this is very ambitious and complex.”
Installations sprout up around the building, including three huge trees which climb up to the third floor and 28 others around the building which showcase on computer screens some of the information which visitors that are currently in the building have provided.
Bosses are hoping people will also use the building to do other things than visit the gallery. It has a recording studio and theatre which is already booked up for events such as book launches and concerts.
The building is split over three levels, three (where people begin the tour of the gallery), two and one.
Bosses are hoping to get in the region of 600,000 through the doors in the first 12 months.
3 Comments
Nice pictures of the inside, but is it worth the obscene amount of tax payers money spent on it,and will the majority of Blackcountry folk spend £7 quid of hard earned money to get in…I don’t think so.
I suppose the minority of Arty lovers will think it is great,good for them, but what about the majority who paid for it?
600,000 visiters in 12 months…LoL, The bosses must be like New Labour politicians……..Living in Cookoo Land.
oh Dudley bloke why dont ya poke ya nose into ya own areas business… that castles looking a bit run down…. sorry thats all of Dudley i mean.
Knocking people for trying - id rather live in Sandwell with the Public than in neglected over taxed Conservative Dudley
just my opinion to add to the rest of moaning ramblers on here
It’s great to finally have a Midlands gallery that takes computer-powered interactive art seriously, and believes it’s fun. And a gallery that doesn’t dress up a tired and pretentious “video art” by misleadingly slapping a “digital” label on it - although I admit that the Public’s French ‘video artwork’ sounds very suspicious in that regard. As to the cost, the £55-million cost is starting to look puny, beside other local projects - such as £120m for new shopping centre in Stoke, the £100 million Junction shopping park in Oldbury, £176m for Wolverhampton’s new rail interchange; £100m for the Mailbox expansion in Birmingham; £95m for a new shopping centre in Lichfield, and a new £60m performing arts centre in Leicester. One wonders - why was a fairly standard cost over-run of 20-percent allowed to so painfully cripple this project? I can’t help but see the dead hand of Sandwell Council somewhere in that.