Members of the Whitstable Artists' and Musicians' Cooperative (WAMCO) initiated and ran a project to make use of the groyne timbers which were being grubbed up and burnt during the redevelopment of the town's sea defenses in 1988. The Sea Bench Project was devised out of these efforts. We created designs, exhibited them at Whitstable Museum, and gained generous funding support from a number of sources (see above).

 

In all five seats were designed and funded but ultimately only four were made: The Diving Helmet bench by Mark Fuller, The Railway Bench by Georgia Wright, The Fish Bench by Nigel Hobbins and my offering, The Oyster Bench. Unfortunately, the fifth seat was never made. The 'con-artist' involved decided to take the funding money and move to London!

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The Sea Bench Project was a pioneering public art project, generated by local people for local people. It was featured in a major exhibition in London and the related publication in 1997 - (Public Art, People, Projects, Process by Eileen Adams)

 

The Oyster Bench celebrates the town's oyster industry. The design and carving references oyster smacks, oysters and the sea. An oyster dredge is suggested in the steel inset. It is still in place some thirty five years later (2024).