Dewsbury artist receives ‘beautiful’ feedback on her temporary artwork situated on Union Street

The artwork - commissioned by the Dewsbury Creative Town arts programme - was part of an eight week art project, developed by Harriet through research with local businesses and the community, aiming to celebrate some of the lesser known stories of the town's textile heritage.

This in-depth research has enabled Harriet to convey the stories of the town’s textile and shoddy industry through art.

The artwork, which is now in situ outside the Creative Craft Centre on Union Street, shows Alan Summer auctioning off bales of rags, the fabric pickers - who were mainly women - whose skills were ‘second to none’ and The Scissors where Walter Pitts sadly passed away.

Harriet considered every aspect of the art, even down to the colours. She decided on blue as the background colour because it is the heritage colour of Dewsbury and the brighter ‘pops of colour’ were taken from a piece of shoddy she had been looking at during the research stage.

Harriet, who is a graduate from the Batley School of Art, said: “I have worked so hard, I did it all in the school holidays. Juggling child-care was difficult and quite a lot of it I painted through the night while my children were in bed.

“It was quite overwhelming actually, the morning that we installed it. My partner is in the trade, so we installed it together with a couple of other people.

“It was also quite emotional, especially knowing that Howard Summer’s had passed away and that he wouldn't be able to see it, and he had been quite a big contributor.

“However, since it has been released it has been really lovely and all the feedback has been really beautiful - it's been really nice.

“Hopefully this is the start of more opportunities in Dewsbury, to get more things like this done.”

The artwork has been commissioned by the Dewsbury Creative Town arts programme, a £200,000 initiative funded by Kirklees Council as part of its Blueprint plans to revitalise the town centre.

The arts programme, which is produced by arts organisation Beam, includes a range of permanent and temporary public art interventions at various sites across Dewsbury.

Kate Watson, producer of Dewsbury Creative Town Arts Programme said: “We’re delighted to have Harriet’s Tales from t’mill commission as part of our exciting art programme.

“Harriet is extremely passionate about Dewsbury, its regeneration and the textile industry so it was great to be able to work with her on this recent project.

“We believe the artwork captures the spirit of all the conversations Harriet had with local people who worked in the textile industry as part of her research which makes it totally unique.

“Huge thanks to Harriet for working so hard on the commission over the summer and creating something special for us all to enjoy!”

The artwork is in-situ outside the Creative Craft Centre on Union Street, Dewsbury.