The Spode Rose Garden: A Proposition - at British Ceramics Biennial 2013

Anna Francis was lead artist on the Spode Rose Garden Project, with colleagues Glen Stoker and Andrew Branscombe from AirSpace Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
In 2013, AirSpace Gallery staged an innovation to take place during the British Ceramics Biennial. The Rose Garden is the entrance into the Biennial, and typically sees more than 30,000 visitors entering the biennial through the garden.
Information about the project:
During the British Ceramics Biennial 2013, AirSpace gallery is renovating a slice of the garden, attached to the Spode China Hall, off Kingsway, Stoke, to act as a physical proposal for the renovation of the entire space. This proposition is intended as an example of what could be, and is meant as a way of gathering support and interest to raise the funding and resources to see the full space renovated for the 2015 British Ceramics Biennial, which is a significant one, in that 2015 is set to be the Year of Ceramics.
The centrepiece of the garden proposal is a circular raised bed, built with bricks salvaged from the Spode site, which is planted with a collection of ornamental grasses. Rising from the middle of the raised bed is a plinth, holding a glass dome. The glass dome houses an artwork: The Spode China Rose - a beautifully crafted, bone china rose, that forms the crux of the Spode Rose Garden project.
The Spode China Rose is itself, an idea. It is a promise of new life, development, and the future. The Victorian Language of flowers rather aptly, saw the giving of a China Rose as a symbol of beauty, always new. The physical proposition, made through the renovation of the garden, is underlined by the bone china rose, which is a representation of a rose that we hope to see brought to life, by 2015 - but all of this is dependent on whether the supporters of the BCB think, as we do, that the development of a special Spode China Bloom is a fitting legacy for the festival.
We have collaborated with Ceramic Flower maker, Rita Floyd, in the creation of the design for the Spode China Rose. We took a prototype to a series of meetings with lots of rose breeders. At one of these meetings we struck lucky. On seeing our prototype, Gareth Fryer, whose family has been breeding roses for over 100 years, told us that he had a very similar rose in development - an old-type rose, fragrant and pure white. In order to bring this rose to life as The Spode China Rose - to populate the Rose Garden with it and for it to be available to be bought , it is going to cost £2,500.
This project is an experiment in people power. We hope that our renovation of the garden will act as inspiration for others to adopt neglected green spaces in cities, and we hope to see if there is enough support from the public to have a stake in developing a brand new breed of rose, and seeing this once beautiful space brought back to life.
We are: AirSpace Gallery. We have been a partner in the British Ceramics Biennial since the beginning, and we have seen the wonderful difference that it has made to the city, and we hope to be able to support that, through our Rose Garden Project. We have never tried crowd-funding before, but for this project, it seems fitting to see if people will invest in this beautiful project, which is a celebration of life, ceramics, and the future. If you would like to see this wonderful bloom come to life and populate the Garden for 2015, then please show your support by donating in our crowd funding campaign. There are pledges to suit all budgets, and not only will you be supporting the development of a new rose, you are able to choose from a variety of fantastic pledges and rewards.