An architect’s dream of a fairytale large-scale public art installation for Angus is edging closer to reality.
Just over two years since first floating the ambitious idea of having Kirriemuir’s famous storybook son, Peter Pan, rising into the Angus skies, the man behind the project has revealed concept designs of the eye-catching creation.
The vision for the Darlings of the North sees Peter, Wendy and the children in JM Barrie’s classic tale flying 50ft above the A90 in a creation aimed at pulling tourists towards the author’s Kirrie birthplace.
It would also add to Scotland’s array of striking roadside sculptures, including the magnificent grouse high above Perth, whose designer has turned his expert hand to the Angus concept.
Celebrations surrounding the 2011 150th anniversary of the birth of Barrie, Kirrie’s most famous son, sowed the seed of imagination in the mind of architect Gary Sinclair, whose studio is based at Westmuir on the edge of the town.
His discussions with a local businessman about how to better highlight Kirrie’s attractions and pull more visitors off the trunk road gave rise to the idea of siting the spectacular sculpture on an island beside the A90 junction leading off to Barrie’s home town.
“The idea of the sculpture was to represent the ‘Second to the right and straight on till morning’ moment that sees Peter Pan taking the Darling children on their first flight,” Gary said.
Revealed by The Courier, the original concept quickly became known as the Darlings of the North and led to Gary being approached by Ruaraig Maciver and Beltane Studios Ltd with a view to developing the concept further.
Ruaraig has most recently unveiled his sculptural portrait of Bill McLaren in Hawick and is otherwise best known for the design, construction and installation of Perth’s famous grouse on the Broxden roundabout.
Gary added: “Ruaraig was so interested in developing the Darlings of the North idea for a similar roadside location that he undertook to develop my concept into a more tangible design form.”
The latest stage in the Angus idea has seen the fabrication of a 1:10 scale maquette of the proposed sculpture showing Peter, Wendy, Michael and John being whisked into the air around a steel mesh vortex frame, with a tiny glass representation of Tinker Bell accompanying them on their flight. The maquette has been constructed from galvanised steel with bronzed resin figures.
“Just imagine the sight of four figures zooming up into the night sky as they take their first ‘jump on the wind’s back’,” Gary said. “The sculpture has been designed to rise up around 16.5m (50ft) from base to tip, with the figures being more than double life size.”
Its designers say the central support structure will evolve if the project takes off, with options to form a wire mesh or translucent perspex vortex as a background to the figures.
“Tinker Bell will be a cast glass figure held within a stainless steel star,” Gary said. “Selected lighting of the figures alone would allow each character to appear to float in the night sky over the junction during the hours of darkness.”
The designers are now working on a video presentation and are looking to put the maquette on display to gauge local opinion and garner support.