The Public Art of Liverpool

5 weekly sessions on campus, on Fridays at 2-4pm, starting from Friday 1 May

Overview

Public Art is often our first encounter with fine art; it may range from figurative sculpture, or a memorial, to a contemporary avant-garde piece. Liverpool is home to a vast collection of public artworks dotted throughout the city and wider Merseyside some works are today highly controversial, others less so. Some reflect changing aesthetic tastes, whilst others seek to provoke discussion and contemplation. This five-week course introduces you to some of the most significant works of Public Art in Liverpool, encouraging you to look again at these often familiar, sometimes overlooked works. 

This course seeks to introduce you to some of the landmarks of Liverpool’s public art works, to tell you more about them and their place in the ongoing history of the city. 

This course is aimed anyone with an interest in Liverpool’s Public Art, no prior knowledge is expected, only a curiosity to learn more.

Syllabus

1.    The Glories & the Triumphs, the contested and controversial figurative works of the 19th and early 20th Centuries.
2.    Remembering the Dead, Memory & Memorials
3.    ‘It’s Good for You’, Post War ‘Public Art’
4.    The Liverpool Biennial, Temporary works and their legacies
5.    A Tour of the Public Art of the Pier Head & Albert Dock

Course lecturer

Ed Williams is an Art Historian who studied under Prof. Janina Ramirez at Oxford. He works at TATE Liverpool, he is a regular contributor to on-line publications, writing in the field of art history and art critique. His work involves regularly leading groups through exhibitions and giving public lectures, he previously taught undergraduate and postgraduate students at a number of Universities including the Department of Continuing Education at the University of Liverpool.

Course fee

• Standard fee: £80
• Concession fee: £40.