Viables

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The design for the craft centres new entrance developed through community consultation with the Harrow Way Over 55 Club and St Johns Primary school in Cranbourne. It was funded by Basingstoke and Deane BC and Hampshire County Council.
On one side of the entrance is a large disc that illuminates the words Viables Craft Centre from within. The discoid sign was made up from two dished tanker ends that reflect the earlier history of Viables as a dairy farm before it became a craft centre in the 1970s. There was a small problem concerning a nut that I could not reach; so my son Bill at the age of three climbed into the disc to tighten it up! On the other side of the entrance is a ‘statue’ of Ceramic Man a figure developed by Mark Wright and Geraldine Rudge who managed the centre. The jumping figure that used to be the Viables logo incorporates tools used in ceramics for its body. Geraldine said that the objective was to create an entrance that would be a work of art and an attraction in its own right making the public aware of the centre from Harrow Way.
As well as personally involving the children in some artworks at the centre they worked with Sue White who was resident ceramicist at the time. During their time with her making clay tiles, local builder Ricki Charlton built the new curving wall behind the disc. They feature farm animals and tractors and were fired in the kiln at the pottery on site and finally intergrated into the wall. The work was finished in May 1998 and became part of an embryonic portfolio of public art projects.