“EVE THE APPLE PICKER” 2002 - 04
MIDLAND SCULPTURE TRAIL
May 2002, Spring Gardening Show, Three Counties Showground, Malvern.
In 2000 Rose was invited to organise and curate the first ‘Midland Sculpture Trail’, a landmark project aiming to combine the highest quality of large scale sculpture with rural interests as part of the annual Three Counties Spring Gardening Show. The trail was scheduled to take place in 2001 but because of the Foot and Mouth epidemic it was postponed until May 2002. With initial financial support for the trail from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Three Counties Agricultural Society, Rose successfully applied for substantial grants from West Midlands Arts, the Regional Arts Lottery Programme and Worcestershire County Council, enabling the project to go ahead. As part of the trail Rose also made “Eve the Apple Picker” in resin and fibreglass, a female figure reaching up to pick the forbidden fruit by climbing a ladder inside a circle of real apples.
Fifteen of the best contemporary sculptors from the Midlands and beyond showed large pieces of work on a mapped trail, which challenged visitors’ preconceptions of sculpture in the landscape and garden. The trail of sculptures could be followed throughout the Spring Gardening Show, indoors and out, including the main marquee. The fifteen sculptors were selected through a nationwide open competition, to show major works with a wide range of exciting ideas and media. Some were internationally known and many were from the Midlands, from the heart of the countryside in the Three Counties, while others were from Wales, deepest Somerset and the centre of the cities of Birmingham and London,
ROSIE LEVENTON, JO NADEN, MICHELLE PARKER, KEIR SMITH, HEATHER STEELE, RICHARD TAYLOR, MARK TILLEY and MATT WESTBROOK.
Six of the artists also agreed to make their sculptures on site during the Show so that visitors could see their working processes, not only how they created large sculpture in wood or copper, but also by making dramatic land installations in clay, or woven willow, or even using fruit, spices and vegetables. Several artists worked to build these huge sculptures with teenagers and visually impaired students, others with horticultural students, children and local people from many backgrounds who were new to sculpture. The sculptors were happy not only to teach new skills to visitors but also to answer questions and explain their latest ideas. The trail was very popular with the public, receiving very good press and was featured on BBC TV’s Gardeners World.
Sadly in September of that year Rose’s elder brother Dr Timothy Garrard, an anthropologist and historian who lived in Ivory Coast, returned to Malvern in an exhausted and distressed state, having fled from a rebellion in Ivory Coast. He soon insisted on returning to West Africa, but in 2003 the Police found him lost and confused at Heathrow Airport, wandering around with little memory. He was immediately sectioned and later diagnosed with Dementia at the age of 60. As he was a bachelor Rose became his main carer and attorney until his death in May 2007.