Recycled letters bring a splash of colour to Dewsbury town centre

The commission is part of a long-term project by art collective Cubic Fruit for the Dewsbury Creative Town Arts programme.

The letters d, u, r and y were salvaged by Cubic Fruits lead artist Emmeline North from a local reclamation yard in September 2021.

The team then got to work cleaning up the original letters and forming the detailed designs for the missing letters e, w, s and b.

The designs reference textiles and woven materials and were painstakingly fabricated by metal work artist Mick Kirby Geddes.

The entire installation has then been transformed with the application of colour, painted pattern and carefully selected materials that are designed to both protect and enhance the structures.

Although in a lowercase format the letters are a striking size, standing between 1.4m and 1m tall each, and the total length of the installation is nearly 10m long.

Kate Watson, programme manager for Dewsbury Creative Town, said: “It’s amazing to finally see the letters on display and hope it provides passers-by with a bright and colourful welcome to the town.

“Emmeline and the team have worked extremely hard to create something unique using reclaimed materials as the starting point for the installation but many hours have also gone into designing and painting them.

“We hope the letters create lots of interesting conversations and demonstrate how art can really change the landscape of a place.”

Cubic Fruit is made up of several talented individuals who have a combined industry experience of over 50 years. However, the lead artist and designer is Emmeline North, who also created Urban Rewild at the Princess of Wales Shopping Centre.

Emmeline said: “I absolutely love breathing new life into forgotten or obsolete items.

“Spotting the original four letters in their previous ‘orange’ format provided the foundation for the concept that has evolved to where it is today.

“The design process has allowed us to work with some really interesting techniques and new materials to create the final outcome.

“The designs are inspired by my love of textiles as well as pattern and the fabrication of garments which of course is intrinsic in Dewsbury’s heritage.

“The colours of buildings found in the town centre have also inspired the overall design, and I was thrilled to be able to apply these patterns onto a 3D surface.

“It’s also been great to source 100 per cent recycled acrylic from British and European companies to form the casings for the ‘s’ and the ‘w’.”

The Dewsbury Creative Town Arts Programme - produced by arts organisation Beam - is a £200,000 initiative funded by Kirklees Council which forms part of the Dewsbury Blueprint.

David Shepherd, strategic director for growth and regeneration at Kirklees Council, said: “This project is a great example, in miniature, of what we’re looking to achieve with the Dewsbury Blueprint as a whole.

“It’s all about combining the past, present and future of the town – bringing the town’s historic beauty together with new developments to create something that’ll last.

“We hope this piece, and other artwork created through the Creative Town Arts Programme, will bring a lot of joy to people who live in, work in or visit Dewsbury.”

The ‘dewsbury’ art installation can be found on the ring road in the town centre, adjacent to Longcauseway.