Stephen Broadbent is a British sculptor, specialising in

public art Public art is art in any Media (arts), media whose form, function and meaning are created for the general public through a public process. It is a specific art genre with its own professional and critical discourse. Public art is visually and phy ...

. He was born in

Wroughton Wroughton is a large village and civil parish in northeast Wiltshire, England. It is part of the Borough of Swindon and lies along the A4361 between Swindon and Avebury; the road into Swindon crosses the M4 motorway between junctions 15 an ...

Wiltshire Wiltshire (; abbreviated Wilts) is a historic and ceremonial county in South West England with an area of . It is landlocked and borders the counties of Dorset to the southwest, Somerset to the west, Hampshire to the southeast, Gloucestershire ...

in 1961 and educated at

Liverpool Blue Coat School The Liverpool Blue Coat School is a grammar school in Wavertree, Liverpool, England. It was founded in 1708 by Bryan Blundell and the Reverend Robert Styth as the Liverpool Blue Coat Hospital and was for many years a boys' boarding school befo ...

. In Liverpool he studied sculpture for four years under

Arthur Dooley Arthur John Dooley (17 January 1929 – 7 January 1994) was an English artist and sculptor. Biography Born in the Dingle area of Liverpool, after leaving school at 14, Dooley began work as a welder at the Cammell Laird shipyard in Birkenhead. ...

. He has created public sculptures for communities across the UK and for international projects. His sculptural practice is based upon meaningful placemaking, creating artworks which resonate with the environments in which they're placed. This is often achieved through community collaboration, looking and listening to the stories a place has to tell, to create a unique design which becomes an integral part of its surroundings.

Significant works

Broadbent contributed to the remodelling of Bridge Street in Warrington town centre, the site of the 1993

Warrington bomb attacks The Warrington bombings were two separate bomb attacks that took place during early 1993 in Warrington, Cheshire, England. The first attack happened on 26 February, when a bomb exploded at a gas storage facility. This first explosion caused ex ...

that killed two young children with a 'River Of Life' memorial. The design is intended to give hope for the future, and takes the form of a fountain - a "river" running down the street bringing healing and refreshment. He has created two versions of the
Reconciliation Triangle
. The first, in 1989, represented connections between Liverpool, Glasgow and Dublin. The second marked the legacy of the slave trade in the histories of

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

Richmond, Virginia
and

Benin Benin ( , ; french: Bénin , ff, Benen), officially the Republic of Benin (french: République du Bénin), and formerly Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north ...

. The sculptures in each connected city are identical (apart from the addition of low-relief bronze designs), marking the historical connections between locations whilst creating a new one in a process of healing. His sculptures on Littlehaven Promenade,

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England. It is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. Historically, it was known in Roman times as Arbeia, and as Caer Urfa by Early Middle Ages. According to the 20 ...

and

Keel Square Keel Square is a public space and boulevard based in Sunderland, Tyne & Wear, completed in 2015. Located to the north of the City Centre opposite the Vaux Site, the square was constructed as part of the larger St. Mary's Way redevelopment. The to ...

, Sunderland, both contributed to winning entries into the 2015 Northern Design Awards. His largest work, 'Encounter', stands at junction 11 of the M62 Motorway at

Birchwood Birchwood is a town in the Borough of Warrington, Cheshire, England with a population of 11,395 (as at the 2001 census). Although physically and administratively part of Warrington, the civil parish council has named itself a town council. Hi ...

, and incorporates telecommunications aerials within the metalwork.

List of works

* ''Reconciliation,'' Liverpool, Glasgow, Belfast
''Celebration of Chester''
Chester * ''Water of Life'', Chester Cathedral
''The River of Life''
Warrington * ''Coming Together'', Liverpool * ''Gateway markers'', Sutton *
Seasons
', Water Feature, Manchester Cathedral Gardens
''Pulling the Plug''
Hyde Town Hall * ''The Word'', Methodist Publishing House * ''

Empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

'', Lincoln * ''Encounter'', Birchwood * ''Four Corners'', King Mohammed IV Centre, Morocco * ''Sculptural Seating'', Fleming Square, Blackburn
''Faces of Liverpool''
Beetham Tower Gardens, Liverpool * ''Entrance Feature'', Corbett Hospital
''Frank Whittle Memorial''
Rugby * Cleveleys Promenade * ''Drift Park'', Rhyl * ''Sculpture Trail'', West End Gardens, Morecambe * ''Desks'', Beetham Organisation, West Tower
''Reconciliation''
Liverpool, Benin, Virginia
''Sheppard Worlock Memorial Sculpture''
Liverpool
''Seed Sculpture''
Liverpool Hope University * ''John Newton Sculpture'', Liverpool * ''Seats'', UCLAN Preston * ''

Tudor Square Tudor Square is a city square in the city of Sheffield, England. The square is home to the largest concentration of theatres in the UK outside London and has thus become known as Sheffield's ‘Theatre Land’. The Square lies at the heart of th ...

'', Sheffield * ''Growth'', Saltney
''Casuals''
Salford Quays * ''Wayfinding Elements'', Carlisle City Centre * ''Planted'', Stockbridge Village * Newbridge town centre artworks
''Mythic Coast''
Cleveleys * ''Chaucer Totem'', Sheffield * ''Maesteg Bud'', Maesteg
"''Eye''" and "''Sail''" features
Littlehaven Promenade, South Shields
''Propellers of the City''
Sunderland
''Lives Lived, Lives Lost''
National Coal Mining Museum, Wakefield * ''Coming Home'', Gleneagles Golf Resort
''Garden of Pooled Talents''
Sheffield University * ''Linear Garden'', Sci-Teach Daresbury * ''The Voice of the City'', Peterborough * ''From Me To You'', Blackpool Victoria Hospital
''The Eudaemonium''
Altrincham
''Walking Together''
Markham Vale

References

External links

Artist's own website2008 Roscoe Lecture for LJMUThe Mythic Coast: The ShellPlan-it: Leopold Square, SheffieldLiverpool Echo: The Sheppard-Worlock MemorialPublic Sector, Public Space: Working for Sunderland
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadbent, Stephen British sculptors British male sculptors People from Wroughton 1961 births Living people People educated at Liverpool Blue Coat School