Reading Borough Council and Tesco Stores Limited are to jointly commission an artist to create a new artwork for Battle library in Oxford Road.
The Reading commission will involve the local community and will reflect the social, cultural and historical context of the library, with a key focus on involving the Oxford Road community.
An artist selection process will be taking place over the next couple of months and the appointed artist will spend some time researching and developing ideas before presenting proposals to Reading Borough Council and Tesco.
The proposals are likely to be considered in March before the final piece is completed in July 2010.
Graeme Hoskin, Lead Councillor for Reading Culture and Sport, said: "This project hasn’t gone as smoothly as we would have like but I’m now very excited that we’ll soon be appointing an artist to work with the community."
Felix Gummer, Tesco Reading Regional Corporate Affairs Manager, said: "We are delighted to be able to support this work of public art. It is a great honour to be able to contribute to the environment of the people of West Reading in this way."
The budget for the project is £56,000, which is being funded through a contribution from Tesco as part of the development of their Portman Road store.
A piece of Reading public art was originally planned for outside the Tesco store. Further to discussions about the location and maintenance of the work over recent months, both organisations have now decided Battle Library would be the most suitable location for the commission.
Reading Borough Council
