SUSTAINABILITY
Our commitment
Sustainability is incredibly important to us and to The Arc’s sculptor, Nicola.
Nicola Anthony’s Studio is climate neutral and is a member of Carbon Neutral Britain, the UK's leading carbon offsetting initiative. Each year the organisation funds the planting of 240 trees, and for each team member, they offset 1.25 tonnes of CO₂e through United Nations-certified emission reduction projects each month (the average of one person’s monthly carbon emissions).
Plus stainless steel from recycled sources (typically from scrap, melted and purified into sheet form) will be used to build The Arc.
Wokingham Borough
The long-term benefits this will bring to Wokingham Borough’s socio-economic environment are many. Enhancement of the physical environment makes the area more inviting, creating a sense of place that is distinctive and contributes to a feeling of community cohesion, which is known to reduce crime. The positive mental health benefits of access to the arts and pride in one's home may reduce the need for intervention, inviting observation, reflection and dialogue. The sense of ownership and inclusiveness of the design is community driven, collaborative and context specific.
This sculpture provides Wokingham with its own landmark that the local community can engage with, fostering a sense of wellbeing without having to travel further afield. The Arc also continues our commitment to social inclusion, offering improved access to art for groups who may not have previously been able to. It will become a blueprint to incorporate further public artworks across the Borough.
A sense of place
We want to improve the sense of identity and placemaking, by creating a landmark that becomes a symbol of Wokingham. This will have a profound effect on the local economy for existing and future residents and businesses, as it draws interest from visitors, contributing to economic value through inward investment and tourism, as well as fostering civic pride and confidence.
Through its development, we will be holding several community workshops where participants will learn transferable skills to take into their own lives, around communication, storytelling and emotional intelligence, to name just a few. Through the support of our Library Services, Nicola will be reaching out to hard-to-access community groups, including care homes, schools, adult community learning, job support groups, tenancy involvement teams and migrant communities etc) to ensure our work is truly reflective of the Borough. These participants will then be invited to join a monthly ‘creative prompt’ group with Nicola, so they can continue to develop their creative journey.
Educational resources for the community
When launched, the sculpture will have a range of supportive education materials, lesson plans and community activities, which will be available in the Wokingham Library or through Arts4Wokingham. These will use the sculpture’s story as the basis of learning, elevating conversations, offering fun and creative workshops. Watch this space to find out more.