Case study: The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail
What we did
We first worked with the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust who manage the trail in 2015 and have done for many years since, on a wide range of projects, events and marketing.
The challenge
Close to our hearts, the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail was a huge success when it launched in 1986. A few of its original pieces remain but it has also been regularly added to and developed over the years. They were looking for marketing support to launch new pieces, celebrate their 30th anniversary, promote pop-up events and plan campaigns.
Our services included
Social media
Campaigns
Website management
Content creation
PR and influencers
Events
Consumer research
Our key achievements
A Sense of Place
Place – known locally as The Giant’s Chair – was a much-loved sculpture on the trail, commissioned and installed in 1986. By 2015 it was deemed unsafe and in need of removal. We were brought in to assist with a commemoration project called ‘A Sense of Place’. We helped put together a film featuring interviews with people involved in its installation and some of those it touched, the history of the piece and the plans for its future as well as stunning aerial photography of the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail.
It was finally felled on 20th October 2015, 29 years after it was installed. We also helped with a range of events and marketing after Place was decommissioned including encouraging artists to use the charcoal made from the burn and the launches of Charcoal Measure and Sentient Forest in 2016.
30th anniversary celebrations
Launched in 1986, we helped celebrate the trail’s 30th anniversary in 2016. We supported the team with a range of celebratory events including a 30th anniversary event on the trail itself with some of the original sculptors and organisers and a guided walk to some of the new pieces.
Rainbow Forest
A pop-up art event bringing the colours of the rainbow into the woods, merging sculpture with den making, Rainbow Forest was a huge amount of fun to help organise. We spent two days in the woods painting branches prior to the event! We ran a launch resulting in this lovely film (below) and the experience was also covered by a number of local media. The branches were painted with eco-friendly paint from Earthborn Paints (read their write-up here) and lasted much longer than we expected, being seen for years to come.
What they said about working with us
Alex is a real gem. She did a wonderful job in sensitively handling public enquiries, assisted with social media and press communications, created a beautiful webpage for us and her research also contributed to a special film we made. She went above and beyond what was asked of her, volunteering her time to help the smooth running of events. She works quickly and always delivers. Her fees were always carefully itemised as to how much time she spent working on each task and always reasonably priced.
Cathy Mager, The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust