Stephen Broadbent Explained

Stephen Broadbent is a British sculptor, specialising in public art. He was born in Wroughton, Wiltshire in 1961 and educated at Liverpool Blue Coat School. In Liverpool he studied sculpture for four years under Arthur Dooley.^[1]

He has created public sculptures for communities across the UK and for international projects. His sculptural practice aims to create artworks which resonate with the environments in which they are placed, often achieved through community collaboration.^[2]

Significant works

Broadbent contributed to the remodelling of Bridge Street in Warrington town centre, the site of the 1993 Warrington bomb attacks that killed two children. His 'River Of Life' memorial is intended to give hope for the future, and takes the form of a fountain and a river running down the street, bringing healing and refreshment.

He has created two versions of the Reconciliation Triangle. The first, in 1989, represented connections between Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin. The second marked the legacy of the slave trade in the histories of Liverpool, Richmond, Virginia and Benin. The sculptures in each connected city are identical (apart from the addition of low-relief bronze designs), marking the historical connections between locations whilst creating a new one in a process of healing.^[3]

His sculptures on Littlehaven Promenade, South Shields and Keel Square, Sunderland, both contributed to winning entries into the 2015 Northern Design Awards.

His largest work, 'Encounter', stands at junction 11 of the M62 Motorway at Birchwood, and incorporates telecommunications aerials within the metalwork.

List of works

• Reconciliation, Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast
• Celebration of Chester, Chester^[4]
• Water of Life, Chester Cathedral
• The River of Life, Warrington^[5]
• Coming Together, Liverpool
• Gateway markers, Sutton
• Seasons, Water Feature, Manchester Cathedral Gardens^[6]
• Pulling the Plug, Hyde Town Hall^[7]
• The Word, Methodist Publishing House
• Empowerment, Lincoln
• Encounter, Birchwood
• Four Corners, King Mohammed IV Centre, Morocco
• Sculptural Seating, Fleming Square, Blackburn
• Faces of Liverpool, Beetham Tower Gardens, Liverpool^[8]
• Entrance Feature, Corbett Hospital
• Frank Whittle Memorial, Rugby^[9]
• Drift Park, Rhyl
• Sculpture Trail, West End Gardens, Morecambe
• Desks, Beetham Organisation, West Tower
• Reconciliation, Liverpool, Benin, Virginia
• Sheppard Worlock Memorial Sculpture], Liverpool
• Seed Sculpture, Liverpool Hope University^[10]
• John Newton Sculpture, Liverpool
• Seats, UCLAN Preston
• Tudor Square, Sheffield
• Growth, Saltney
• Casuals, Salford Quays^[11]
• Wayfinding Elements, Carlisle City Centre
• Planted, Stockbridge Village
• Newbridge town centre artworks
• Mythic Coast, Cleveleys^[12]
• Chaucer Totem, Sheffield
• Maesteg Bud, Maesteg
• "Eye" and "Sail" features, Littlehaven Promenade, South Shields^[13]
• Propellers of the City, Sunderland
• Lives Lived, Lives Lost, National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield^[14]
• Coming Home, Gleneagles Golf Resort
• Garden of Pooled Talents, Sheffield University
• Linear Garden, Sci-Teach Daresbury
• The Voice of the City, Peterborough^[15]
• From Me To You, Blackpool Victoria Hospital
• The Eudaemonium, Altrincham^[16]
• Walking Together, Markham Vale

External links

• Broadbent Studio
• Liverpool Echo: The Sheppard-Worlock Memorial, 12 May 2008

Notes and References

1. Book: John., Whitehouse. Stephen Broadbent: sculptor : commissions from 1987-1997. c. 1999. Guy Woodland. 0953199509. Prenton. 41213476.
2. Book: Avant gardeners : 50 visionaries of the contemporary landscape. Richardson, Tim. 2008. Thames & Hudson. Schwartz, Martha.. 9780500513934. New York. 181422412.
3. Web site: Reconciliation in Richmond, 2007.
4. Web site: Pounds to Pocket - Payday Loans - Borrow £100 - £5,000 Today . https://web.archive.org/web/20160512120834/http://pmsa.org.uk/pmsa-database/4864 . 12 May 2016 .
5. Web site: The River of Life - Victims of Terrorist Explosion .
6. http://www.bdp.com/en/projects/a-e/Cathedral-Gardens-Manchester
7. https://www.tameside.gov.uk/chartism
8. Web site: Liverpool Monuments: Faces of Liverpool (1) .
9. Web site: Sir Frank Whittle, Inventor of the Jet Engine .
10. Web site: Liverpool Hope University's – Seed Suspended Sculpture | One Offs Limited . 29 March 2016 .
11. Web site: Casuals, Trafford, Manchester .
12. Web site: Mythic Coast on Cleveleys Seafront | Explore the trail - with Visit Cleveleys . 25 June 2022 .
13. https://www.oobe.co.uk/project/littlehaven-promenade
14. Web site: Donate .
15. News: Bell will ring out to mark industrial past. 14 July 2022. Peterborough Telegraph. 5 October 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20190410171751/https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/bell-will-ring-out-to-mark-industrial-past-1-8182481. 10 April 2019.
16. Web site: Everything you need to know about the Eudaemonium, the 13-foot wooden and bronze book that's appeared in Altrincham town centre . 13 September 2018 .