Beyond the bricks and mortar of the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus (TQEC), we’ve been making some exciting creative connections. Get up to speed on the inspiring public art projects that started in 2024, and take a peak behind the scenes of the exciting plans for this year, ahead of the new campus opening in 2026.
One of the ways we are welcoming local communities to the new campus is through a series of public art commissions. Through workshops, creative events and permanent artworks, our TQEC artists are helping to provide new opportunities for collaboration and community engagement, and encouraging a wider sense of involvement and play.
‘Through Charting Change, we will spark curiosity and imagination, create a place where people feel welcomed and strengthen community ties.’
Professor Judith Squires, Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Provost.
Inviting conversation: igniting imagination
From the very start, our vision for TQEC was to focus not only on what’s happening inside the site itself, but also how it occupies the space it will exist in, how it relates to the city and landscape around it and how it references the past.
Charting Change is a two-year commission exploring the site’s industrial heritage alongside the technological futures of the new campus. Ellie Shipman, a visual artist and the lead creative on Charting Change, has made significant strides forward in citywide engagement and inviting community discussion and dialogue.
Ellie has been the Artist-in-Residence at the Barton Hill Micro-campus, inviting people in on a crisp and cold day, to grab a cuppa and do a paper weaving or sew a banner. Ellie has also led a series of events and workshops that have uncovered the history of notable local women changing industry over the years.
‘I’m thrilled to be working on this project. I’m interested in urban regeneration and how communities connect with place and space.’
Ellie Shipman, Lead Artist for the Charting Change commission
Each creative event, the conversations they spark and the inspiration they generate will contribute to Ellie’s design of a series of hand-woven fabric panels, which will hang in The Story Exchange, a community meeting space in the new Temple Quarter Enterprise Campus.
To keep up with the progress of this project, follow the University of Bristol’s public art Instagram account.
Building futures: reflecting history
Laying the foundations for our new campus in an area with complex and fascinating history, means it’s important that we actively recognise major moments of industrial heritage while we build a future for tomorrow. As the bright feature staircases are installed and the windows are fitted in the new building, our focus is as much on opening up new community conversations, reflecting on change, reviving heritage and celebrating the people of the local area.
Towards the end of 2024, Ellie Shipman, and Charting Change programme artist, Creative Designer, Inventor and all round ‘Maker of Things’, Jack Stiling created ‘Work in Progress’, a gallery-based exhibition which showcased photography, film and sculptural installations, including original bobbins from the cotton factory.
As well as local weavers contributing to the fabric panels for The Story Exchange, local people have been invited to share their own stories. The South West’s only cotton mill opened in 1838 in Barton Hill, so previous skilled workers from The Great Western Cotton factory and the Chappell Allen Corset Factory were welcomed to a coffee morning to meet, mingle and reminisce.
Ellie’s innovative ‘Not Working’ metal apron was made with waste from the construction site, to speak to the hidden labour of women who shaped the industry of East Bristol.
Jack’s playable digger-arm sculpture ‘Groundwork’ is an opportunity for tactical exploration, as you can use the playful art installation to scoop real earth.
Supported by Barton Hill History Group, each piece in the exhibition responded to the industrial activity, past and present, around the site of TQEC, merging significant history with the here and now. The exhibition was well attended and the artworks provided an enjoyable backdrop for new connections and conversations.
From Times Square to Temple Quarter
We’re excited to announce we’ll be working with internationally-acclaimed artistic duo, Wood and Harrison, on a major new commission for the campus.
Typically, their playful installations encourage people to congregate, explore and engage so they are an ideal match for TQEC. Their work spans from their studio in Spike Island, here in Bristol, to the Times Square in NYC, Centre Pompidou in Paris and the Tate Modern.
Wood and Harrison will be creating a permanent physical piece for the new campus in keeping with their portfolio of artistic objects linked to urban environments, which invite a sense of play and recreation.
What’s in store for 2025 and beyond…
In 2025, we’ll commission the lead artist for our third and final public art project, Wild Spaces. This participatory project will find imaginative ways to create a dialogue between people and space, as well as providing a fresh creative perspective on the TQEC site’s relationship with water and natural ecologies.
We’re really excited about to see these commissions as they unfold further in the coming months. As we move closer towards opening the doors of TQEC of 2026, we’ll continue to weave creativity into the new campus, connecting with the vibrant and valued civic communities on its doorstep.
Remember, if you’d like to be kept aware of more progress around the University’s Public Art programme, you can follow the Instagram account @bristol_uni_publicart and keep an eye on our news pages.