THE Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire will unveil an arts project inspired by Trafalgar Square’s Fourth Plinth this Friday.

Hereford City Council has been co-ordinating the delivery of the project which will showcase the work of students and local artists.

The new community project which partners with Hereford Skate Park and the Hereford College of Arts hopes to promote art and culture and showcase the talent of local residents.

Lord Lieutenant for Herefordshire The Dowager Countess of Darnley will officially unveil the first sculpture, the Rotherwas Angel, at 4pm on June 22.

Brian Stephens, skate park trustee and founder, said: “The skatepark is now regarded as one of the best in the UK and as well as attracting local users people visit the skatepark from all across the country.

“Among the skateboarding community there is a rich vein of extremely creative people, and the culture is well know for its art work, films and videos.

“The trustees wanted to give skateboarders an additional opportunity to exhibit three dimensional art work and this is now realised with the two plinths.

“In Trafalgar Square there is what is known as the ‘fourth plinth’ which displays a new sculpture on a regular basis. “The plinths at Hereford Skatepark are Hereford City’s own version of this.”

The plinths will catch the eye of people as they enter and exit the City on the A49. Information about the artists and the sculpture will be found in the gallery in the Boom Box on the skate Park.

he first sculpture created by students from the Art College is based on a brief relating to the Home Front.

Hereford College of Arts course leader Darren Williams said the project is an exceptional opportunity for the students involved to challenge themselves.

He said: “It has been rewarding to see the development of these students over the last few months and how they have grown in confidence when dealing with all the other stakeholders, such as the city council and skatepark itself.

“The work itself has been a response to a brief relating to the ‘Home Front’, in which they chose to recognise the efforts of the munitions factory workers at Rotherwas during the 20th Century.”