Arts & Culture

The Kelpies Debut in Bryant Park, New York City

From The Helix, Scotland:

The little Kelpies have landed in the big apple!

"Our 1:10 scale Kelpie models (known as maquettes), little brothers to the colossal 30 metre high Kelpies, are in Bryant Park in the heart of New York City this week to add another string to the bow of Scotland's international tourism offering." Read more...


Friday, March 28, 2014

Tartan Week Brings an Artist, Bagpipes, and More to the Park

Can you believe The Kelpies have lived in the park for a week already? We've enjoyed watching the public interact with the sculptures, both in the park and on social media. 

The Kelpies will get more exciting during Tartan Week, celebrated from April 4 to 8 in conjunction with the American-Scottish Foundation. A series of lunchtime musical performers, presentations, and more will occur on the Fountain Terrace, with The Kelpies as a backdrop. Two of Tartan Week's highlights are the New York Tartan Day Parade on Saturday, April 5, and a talk by Andy Scott, the sculptor of The Kelpies, on Sunday, April 6.

If you're unable to make it to the Tartan Week celebrations, you can catch The Kelpies until April 22.



 

Post by BBC Scotland.


And view this latest, magnificent video of the full-size Kelpies:



Video by Walid Salhab courtesy of The Helix


SCALE VERSIONS OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST EQUINE SCULPTURES - THE KELPIES - TO BE SHOWCASED IN
NEW YORK’S BRYANT PARK


Bryant Park, in New York City, will welcome two 15 ft tall scale models of Glasgow-born artist Andy Scott’s ‘The Kelpies’ sculptures from March 21st to April 23rd next year, in the lead up to the internationally acclaimed week of Scottish celebrations in the city.

March 20, 2014

Two 15-foot-high steel models for the largest equine sculptures in the world will be unveiled in Bryant Park on Friday, March 21 as part of the launch of Scotland Week in New York City.  The larger-than-life installation, known as The Kelpies, have been created by Scotland’s leading public artist Andy Scott.


   
Scottish sculptor Andy Scott, pictured with
Duke and Baron, the Clydesdale horses that
were the inspiration for The Kelpies.

Creating a majestic, awe-inspiring atmosphere in Bryant Park, The Kelpies are the original 1:10 scale design models of Andy’s 100-foot-tall sculptures located in the heart of the new 900-acre Helix Parkland in Falkirk, central Scotland. 
 

With one horse rearing up and the other at rest, a dramatic sense of motion is created.  The sculptures are made from hundreds of small pieces of steel plate painstakingly welded to create the forms. The Kelpies were then galvanized, a process that involves dipping the sculptures in baths of molten zinc.   The full scale sculptures are the largest equine sculptures in the world.

Inspiration for this work came from the Clydesdale horses that, for centuries, pulled boats and cargo along the towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canals in Scotland. 

Artist Andy Scott said:

“The Kelpies began their US tour in summer of 2012 in Chicago, then to Indiana, and it is with great pleasure that I debut them in New York City at Bryant Park. I am honored to take part in a celebration of Scotland’s innovation and creativity during Scotland Week this April.

“We have received tremendous support from the Bryant Park Corporation, The City of New York Parks and Recreation, the American-Scottish Foundation and the Scottish Government to get the scale models on show in Bryant Park and I am confident they will help put Scotland, and the Helix project, firmly on the map – not only for resident New Yorkers, but for the many thousands of international visitors to the city.”   

The Kelpies trumpets the arrival of Scotland Week in April which comprises a diverse programme of Scottish-inspired events and activities that showcase the very best of Scottish culture.

Scottish Government Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs Fiona Hyslop said:

“The Kelpies creatively illustrate how inspiration can be drawn from Scotland’s history and heritage to exhibit a modern piece of art.  As we approach Scotland Week, we’re proud to bring a touch of Scotland to central Manhattan.”

 
The Kelpies will be on Fountain Terrace in Bryant Park from March 21 through April 22.  Bryant Park can be accessed between 40th and 42nd Streets, and 5th and 6th Avenues.

Dan Biederman, President of Bryant Park Corporation, said:

“It is a great pleasure to work with the American Scottish Foundation and the Scottish Government to host these sculptures and the week of special performances around them in Bryant Park.   The park is one of the busiest public spaces in the world and a perfect location for showcasing arts and culture.”

Alan L. Bain, Chairman of the American-Scottish Foundation, stated:

“When we first met with Andy Scott in Bryant Park a year ago, this was the vision and hope and now through the efforts of so many The Kelpies are here with us in New York.

“This has been a terrific collaboration of so many led from the team at Falkirk Council, Scottish Canals and all at the Helix project to the great support of Bryant Park, New York City Parks and the Monuments.”
 

About The Kelpies

  • On March 21, acclaimed Scottish artist, Andy Scott, reveals ‘The Kelpies’ – two 15-foot-high steel structures of Clydesdale-inspired Scottish horse heads – in Bryant Park, New York City. The Kelpies will take at least five hours to install and will bring a ‘taste of Scotland’ to Bryant Park ahead of Scotland Week.
  • The Kelpies maquettes are 1:10 scale models of Andy’s original 100-foot-tall sculptures in Falkirk, Central Scotland, which are the largest equine sculptures in the world.  The external surfaces of The Kelpies are made from hundreds of pieces of steel welded around a steel framework. They were then galvanized, a process that involves dipping the sculptures in baths of molten zinc.
  • The debut of The Kelpies in Bryant Park trumpets the arrival of Scotland Week in April, which officially launches April 3 – 8. Celebrating all things Scottish with a program of cultural activities and events.
  • Back in Scotland, the 100-foot-tall Kelpies are a result of a £5 million-pound-project (approx. USD $8.3 million) that took Scott and the funding partners seven years to finish. They are the dramatic centerpiece of a new £43 million tourist destination in Falkirk called The Helix, which has been funded by a partnership of The Big Lottery Fund, Falkirk Council and Scottish Canals and features a new parkland, lagoon and event space.  Inspiration for The Kelpies came from the Clydesdale horses that pulled boats and cargo along the towpaths of the Forth & Clyde and Union Canal for 200 years.
  • The Kelpies will be on exhibit in Bryant Park from March 21 through April 22. Bryant Park can be accessed between 40th and 42nd Streets, and 5th and 6th Avenues. For more information please go www.scotland.org/scotland-week  

 
About The Kelpies in Bryant Park

The programme of events around The Kelpies in Bryant Park included:

Friday, April 4                         
12.30 to 1.30 pm. 
Glasgow Music and Fashion: Hannah Read & Friends – Music together with Iona Crawford.

Saturday, April 5                   
11.45am – The Pipes and Drums of the Atlantic Watch
12.00pm -  Bonnie Brae Knights
12.30pm – Shamrock and Thistle Pipe Band

Sunday, April 6
12:30–1:30 PM – Tartan Day Observance
New York Metro Pipe Band
The Highland Divas and Special Guests

3.00pm -   Andy Scott talk on his Kelpies inspiration

Monday, April 7                      
12.30pm - Morrison Academy Band

Tuesday, April 8                     
12:30pm – 1:30 PM - Music & Song of Scotland (Voice)
Maureen McMullan, Artist-in-Residence, The National Trust for Scotland Foundation
USA - (Fiddle) Hannah Read - (Keyboard) Neil Pearlman

 

About The Artist - Andy Scott

  • Andy Scott is one of the UK’s leading public artists. He graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1986 with a B.A. (Hons) Fine Art Sculpture and Post Grad Diploma and is an Associate of the Royal British Society of Sculptors.  
  • He works entirely in the public realm from his studio base in Scotland, creating prominent artworks in steel and bronze from 10 to 100 feet high.  His prodigious studio output now extends around the globe, with works as far afield as Europe, Australia and the USA.
  • Andy works in the figurative genre, using traditional drawing skills and contemporary fabrication techniques to transform rigid unforgiving metals into dynamic human or animal forms.  The horse is one of his recurring subjects, and The Kelpies are the most recent and by far the largest representatives of the equine theme in his extensive portfolio.

About the Helix

  • The Helix project is transforming 350 hectares of land between Falkirk and Grangemouth into a vibrant new parkland with visitor attraction.
  • The Helix is also boosting the area’s path connections with the creation of over 27 kilometres of pathways.  These will link into 400km of wider central Scotland path networks including Sustrans routes, the new John Muir Trail and the Bespoke Mountain Bike Trails, which are the first of their kind in Falkirk.
  • Another key Helix development is the installation of an enhanced canal hub with a visitor’s centre as part of a new canal link into the Forth & Clyde Canal. The one-kilometre extension will return the canal back to its birthplace in Grangemouth some 250 years after it was built, and is the final piece in the Millennium Link project. 
  • The Helix is being driven by a partnership of Falkirk Council and Scottish Canals. The project has been awarded £25 million by the Big Lottery Fund’s Living Landmarks programme.

 

BRYANT PARK CORPORATION

  • Bryant Park Corporation (BPC), a not-for-profit company, was founded in 1980 to renovate, finance and operate Bryant Park, one of the busiest public spaces in the world, without government or philanthropic funding.
  • In addition to providing security and sanitation services, and tending the lawn and seasonal gardens, BPC creates amenities and activities in Bryant Park for over 5 million visitors each year.  
  • BPC’s website: www.bryantpark.org/ has more detailed information plus a complete schedule of the upcoming wide range of free events.





Video courtesy of The Helix


Video courtesy of ITN