Peter Randall-Page

The radical and vital work of Common Ground – the Dorset-based arts and environmental charity – is presented through archive material in the Garden Gallery as part of a continued collaboration. Founded in 1983 by Sue Clifford, Angela King and the writer Roger Deakin, Common Ground work with artists to seek imaginative ways to engage people with their local environment. The idea of ‘local distinctiveness’ is at the heart of everything they do, and for the last 30 years they have captured the imagination of people all over the country by creating projects like Apple Day, Parish Mapsand New Milestones, all of which continue to inspire new projects and unearth the strong connections that communities have with the landscape that surrounds them.

In the Garden Gallery, an archival display documents some of Common Ground’s most iconic initiatives over three decades. The New Milestonesproject in Dorset helped communities commission sculptures for the landscape by artists including Peter Randall-Page, Andy Goldsworthy and John Maine. Trees, Woods and the Green Manexplored the cultural and natural value of trees and is represented through drawings by David Nash made to illustrate the publication In a Nutshell, and diary works from Andy Goldsworthy’s residency on Hampstead Heath in 1986. The display also features letterpress posters and pamphlets by artist Dennis Gould; black and white photographs of orchards, apple-picking and traditional processing techniques by James Ravilious; commissioned works from the landmark publication England In Particular; and original artwork for the newspaper LEAF!by artists including Tom Frost, Alice Pattullo and Jonny Hannah.