The Golden Crown, 2023 

The Golden Crown is a new commission from artist Carol Sorhaindo that explores memory, reflection, time, and fragmentation. During her residency at Wysing Arts Centre in 2022, Sorhanido researched natural dyes, and botanical histories in Cambridgeshire, in particular Cambridge Botanical Gardens and Wimpole Hall, a stately home close to Wysing, where she explored plants with economic and colonial connections. During this time she encountered the pineapple motif, which features in the centre of The Golden Crown. Pineapples in the 18th Century symbolised colonial power, high status and wealth, and were often displayed and grown on estates like Wimpole Hall.

In 2022, Wysing Arts Centre and St Peter’s School, Huntingdon, began a new partnership which saw artist Rafał Zajko ‘in residence’ across a school year, running workshops with 270 Year 7 students that led to a significant commission based around their desires for the future. The artist was selected by the students in June 2022, and fifteen months on, a new series of sculptures unfolds throughout the school, with a major new artwork situated right at School‘s entrance. 

Find out more by clicking here.

Creative Youth Council

Aged 14-18? Join Wysing's Creative Youth Council. Designed for and with young people, all sessions are free and take place on the second Saturday of every month, 12-4pm.

Find out more about the Creative Youth Council by clicking here.

At the heart of this year’s residencies, commissions and youth programming is our thinking about how we can use our resources and unique site as equitably and ethically as possible, opening the organisation to wider audiences and bringing new voices into our programme.