About Harlow Sculpture Town

The Essex town of Harlow was founded in 1948 as one of the New Towns to house the homeless
victims of the bombing of London in the Second World War. Most of the early residents of Harlow came
from the East End of London, and the town still retains close cultural links with London.

The main architect for Harlow New Town was Frederick Gibberd, one of the leading architects of the day,
who also designed London’s Heathrow Airport. Together with his wife Patricia (later Lady) Gibberd,
Frederick Gibberd decided that the new people of Harlow should benefit from have their town decorated
with the best public sculpture possible, and to aid this they established the Harlow Art Trust to
commission, buy and look after the Harlow sculpture collection. Over the years that collection has grown
to almost 100 works, almost all located in the streest, shopping centres, parks and housing estates
of Harlow, giving Harlow the highest percentage of public sculpture per head of population in the country.

The collection includes major pieces by major artists, including August Rodin, Barbara Hepworth, Henry
Moore, Elizabeth Frink, Lynn Chadwick and many others, and is still growing, with new works recently
commissioned by artists such as Will Spankie and Ekkehard Altenberger.

In March 2009 the Harlow Art Trust applied to Harlow Council to have Harlow officially designated the world’s
first ‘Sculpture Town’. This is not only to celebrate the sculptures owned by Harlow Art Trust’s sculpture
but other sculpture collections in Harlow, including those of the Council, the Gibberd Garden and Parndon Mll.
The aim is to commission more contemporary sculpture, organise events and sculpture festivals, and involve
local, national and international schools, colleges, universities, artists groups and other organisations In
celebrating the art of sculpture.