North West Cambridge: Ruth Proctor

The Details

Ruth Proctor’s We are all under the same sky, installed at North West Cambridge Primary School, references no matter where on earth we are we have one thing in common.

The artwork which was developed in close collaboration with the architects Marks Barfield, is embedded into the fabric of the building, utilising the glass cloister circling the interior courtyard of the school as its canvas. Each glass panel is imprinted with an image of the sky taken from locations that circumnavigate the globe. Expanding on Ruth’s distinctive practice of using found and sourced elements as part of her artworks, the images were taken by people living in each region and sent to Ruth to form a component of many parts. Under the main entrance to the courtyard the glass is deliberately left clear – so school users can be under their own sky in Cambridge too.

With geographical location stamped into each panel, the piece enriches children’s understanding of geography and their place in the world – reflecting the School’s international reach and constituency.

*Consultancy, together with InSite Arts, has produced a 12-year public art strategy for Cambridge University’s NW Cambridge development. A series of permanent and temporary commissions will take place throughout the development. The programme is also supported by a residency programme with previous artists including Aid & Abet, Tania Kovats and Bedwyr Williams.