{"id":142733,"date":"2025-11-19T09:31:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-19T09:31:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/142733\/"},"modified":"2025-11-19T09:31:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-19T09:31:31","slug":"sculptor-laurence-edwards-to-create-landmark-art-for-lowestoft-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/142733\/","title":{"rendered":"Sculptor Laurence Edwards to create landmark art for Lowestoft"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762860669_614_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1c220600-c3c9-11f0-8318-3f3853f530dc.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"eager\" alt=\"Jamie Niblock\/BBC Laurence Edwards in a grey T-shirt standing in front of two statues on a beach. He has grey hair and a thick grey beard. The statues are bronze and look as if they are walking. The North Sea is in the background.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>Jamie Niblock\/BBC<\/p>\n<p>Laurence Edwards created the Walking Men sculpture, which has travelled across the UK<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">A sculptor has been commissioned to create a landmark for a seaside town.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Suffolk-born Laurence Edwards has been asked by East Suffolk Council to work on the new sculpture for Lowestoft.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Edwards has had several exhibitions on the beach, including his <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c9ww4yrd9zxo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Walking Men statues<\/a> last year, and he is <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/uk-england-suffolk-58875288\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">behind the Yoxman<\/a> \u2013 a 26ft (about 8m) bronze statue of a man that stands near the A12 in Yoxford, near Saxmundham.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">The artist said he was &#8220;very excited&#8221; to be working on the permanent sculpture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;This unique and innovative opportunity has evolved over the last five years; placing works on the beach, amidst a community that set me on my path many years ago, has for me been rewarding and meaningful,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">&#8220;I am very excited to find myself in a position to able to create something permanent in and of the town and to be working with a community that has showed nothing but openness, kindness and even love over the last four years.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/1762860669_614_grey-placeholder.png\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 gUePlo hide-when-no-script\" aria-label=\"image unavailable\"\/><img decoding=\"async\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/b7cbfd00-c3c8-11f0-8318-3f3853f530dc.jpg.webp.webp\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"East Suffolk Council Caroline Topping and Laurence Edwards pictured in his foundry. They lean over a table, each with a white paper contract in front of them, and they both have a pen in their hand. They look at the camera and smile. Caroline has long grey hair and wears a black top and trousers. Laurence wears a green hat and a purple shirt.\" class=\"sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA\"\/>East Suffolk Council<\/p>\n<p>Caroline Topping and Laurence Edwards signed a formal agreement on Thursday<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Mr Edwards will be working with residents across all age groups to shape the theme and concept of the work.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">While no location for the final piece has been announced, the artist will set up in the town&#8217;s former Post Office building when it <a target=\"_self\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cj0qmz9l5nmo\" class=\"sc-f9178328-0 iCaRzc\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">reopens next year as an art hub<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Visitors will be able to learn more about his creative processes and the making of the sculpture.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">It will then be cast in his Halesworth foundry, jointly funded by the artist, his patrons and the council.<\/p>\n<p class=\"sc-9a00e533-0 eZyhnA\">Caroline Topping, leader of the council, said the work would &#8220;inspire residents and visitors alike&#8221;.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Jamie Niblock\/BBC Laurence Edwards created the Walking Men sculpture, which has travelled across the UK A sculptor has&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":142734,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[442,498,499,500,501,156,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-142733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-artsdesign","tag-design","tag-entertainment","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142733","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=142733"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/142733\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/142734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=142733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=142733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=142733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}