Bronze Sculptures Taken from £1m City Art Installation

A collection of bronze sculptures, which were part of a £1m art trail in a city centre, has been stolen. Thieves removed five “key” pieces of the artwork from their plinths outside the Wakefield One building, the headquarters of Wakefield Council, during Thursday night, according to the authority. The sculptures, titled The Auguries: Last Call, were created by British artist Andy Holden and had been installed in 2023. Councillor Hannah Appleyard, the council’s cabinet member for culture, leisure and sport, commented: “The damage caused to this wonderful sculpture is just senseless.” The council confirmed that West Yorkshire Police had been notified. Appleyard urged: “I would urge anyone with information to please contact police.” She also expressed: “It’s very frustrating and sad that someone has wilfully destroyed something like this.” As reported by the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), Holden’s work was intended to represent the songs of native birds whose populations are rapidly declining, including the mistle thrush, skylark, and swift. Recordings of these birds’ songs were transformed into 3D waveforms and subsequently cast in metal. Each sculpture included a QR code, enabling people to listen to the song of each bird. Describing his creation last year, Holden stated: “These sculptures will be melancholy – a time capsule of songs that might soon disappear without due care and never be heard again.” He added: “They should act as totems to remind us how fragile our ever-changing relationship with nature is.” Holden further explained: “The birds’ songs memorialised as sculptures are songs that few human ears can now hear, but by reading the shape of the sculpture form we can reconstruct the sound in our mind.” The Department for Culture, Media and Sport provided funding for the sculpture trail, with the objective of revitalizing outdoor spaces through the display of works by contemporary artists.