Following nominations by over 1,400 members of the public across the United Kingdom, The Isle of Mull has been chosen as one of six locations to be featured in Channel 4’s BIG ART PROJECT, the most ambitious public arts commissioning programme ever undertaken in the UK. The other five locations are: Beckton Alps in East London, Waterworks Park in North Belfast, Burnley in north-west England, Cardigan in Wales and Sheffield Cooling Towers in north-east England.

The Mull nominees, fronted by Lee Hendrick the Visual Arts and Crafts Officer for An Tobar, the Tobermory based art centre serving the communities of Mull and Iona and the neighbouring islands, have identified several possible sites for the artwork: The pier at Craignure, which divides the island between North and South, two decommissioned forests at Langamull and West Ardhu, which are in the process of being bought by the community, and Aros Park where the Mull Theatre Company is building a new production centre.

An initial fund of £2 million has been set aside by Channel 4 to kickstart the project, which will be documented in a series of television programmes in late 2007. The programmes will follow the six communities as they start work with curators to select artists later this year, and then go about commissioning and producing the artworks.

Says Lee Hendrick: “We are delighted to be chosen, and look forward to being a part of this process and all the exciting challenges it will present. The Isle of Mull is very different from others because it is so accessible to the mainland. It has a really unusual mix, but a good mix. I think something that could bring the whole island together would work really well, whether it is a big performance piece that goes from one end of the island to the other or whether it is one particular piece in one area.”

The Big Art Project Advisory team is led by Isabel Vasseur, a pioneer of the public art movement, with Peter Jenkinson, founding director of Walsall Art Gallery,Gus Casely Hayford, Director of InIVA and Kevin Murray, Planning and Regeneration Consultant.

Jan Younghusband, Commissioning Editor, Arts and Performance at Channel 4 said today: “From inner city hotspots to much loved beauty spots, we have been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the response from communities all over the UK to The Big Art Project. The clear desire expressed by people from all kinds of backgrounds all over the country to get involved is ample evidence that the Big Art Project could make really make a difference.”

The Channel 4 Big Art Project  can be viewed at www.channel4.com/bigart