Welcome Building®, Temple Quarter

Bricks is in the process of developing a significant public art commission for Welcome Building®. The artwork will resonate with the bold new landmark building at a prominent gateway site into Bristol.

The Artist: Dorcas Casey

Selected artist Dorcas Casey is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Bristol. She is interested in dreams, intuition, folk rituals, memory and stories. She works with many different materials including fabric, plaster, bronze, and ceramics.

“I’m really excited about this project with a personal connection to this area having lived here for a long time. This is an area of constant flux and change and I’m interested in making a still moment amongst that; a space for something mysterious and magical to emerge in the heart of the city.”

– Dorcas Casey

The Location: Welcome Building®

Welcome Building, 4 Glass Wharf, Temple Quarter, Bristol, BS2 0PS

Welcome Building® is situated at 4 Glass Wharf, Bristol, in the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone. It is near the historic Temple Meads train station, the Floating Harbour, significant (and relatively new) commercial buildings at 2 and 3 Glass Wharf, and backs onto the residential neighbourhoods of St Philips and The Dings. It is also located near a range of small independent businesses, which are located in the railway arches on Oxford St.

“We envisage that Dorcas Casey’s work will play a huge part in elevating the area and turning the place into a local landmark, and we’re delighted that she has been commissioned for this project. “

– Toby Pentecost, Senior Vice President and head of UK offices at Trammell Crow Company

The Community Engagement Programme:

Welcome Building® Public Art Programme will include bespoke engagement activities, in collaboration with the artist as part of their commission. These activities will respond to the artist’s practice, their proposals for the project and the local community. 

More to come on ways to get involved and participate in the artwork.

The Open Call:

Through late 2023, early 2024 we ran an open call for all South West artists to express their interest in developing a public art proposal for Welcome Building. From there, site visits were held for artists to see the space and talk to the developers of the site and Bricks producers, and then five artists were commissioned to develop Stage One proposals. Two of those artists were brought forward for an interview and presented their proposals to the Creative Commissioning Group, and from that Dorcas was selected to take her proposal forward.

“We are delighted to see Dorcas commissioned to make her first permanent public artwork at the Welcome Building.

Her proposal really impressed the panel and we look forward to seeing this realised through summer with multiple opportunities for communities to engage in the process, and see the final artworks launched in Autumn 2024.”

– Jack Gibbon, CEO Bricks.