City of Bath College’s trainee stonemasons played a key role in the unveiling of the stunning statue of swimmer Mark Foster in Bath city centre on Monday.
The students created the eye-catching plinth that the piece of art – a twice life-size sculpture of the champion swimmer’s torso – sits on at the Southgate centre.
Students at the College’s Construction Skills Centre spent weeks working on the plinth, ready to take pride of place in the city centre along with Ben Dearnley’s sculpture of the British swimmer.
The sculpture was unveiled at a ceremony in Bath, which was attended by Mark Foster himself.
Nigel Bryant, the stonemasonry lecturer at City of Bath College who project managed the plinth design, said: “It’s been a great experience for our stonemasons to be involved in such a high-profile project like this.
“They really enjoyed working on the plinth and have created a fantastic piece of artwork which is an excellent accompaniment to Ben Dearnley’s incredible sculpture.
“City of Bath College has an excellent reputation for consistently producing talented stonemasons and our involvement with major community projects such as this is a key factor in our training programmes.”
The sculpture is part of the Art at the Edge project which aims to celebrate sport and Bath’s links to the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For more information go to: www.artattheedge.org
For more information on stonemasonry courses at City of Bath College visit www.citybathcoll.ac.uk or call 01225 312191. You can also drop into the College’s Student Advice Centre at our Avon Street campus.
