The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust and Forestry England have worked in partnership for the last 40 years to create this vital Sculpture Trail.
The Forest of Dean Sculpture Trust CIO is a registered charity that raises funds and commissions sculptures for the Forest of Dean Sculpture Trail, a Forestry England site.
Unlike some sculpture parks, all the artworks you see on the trail are site-specific. They were not simply placed there – they were developed on location and inspired by the particular setting of the Forest of Dean. The Forest has a fascinating history, and the immediate impression of rural and romantic idyll belies historic tensions between industrial and sylvan, man-made and natural, settlement and wilderness. The artists we work with bring new perspectives to these unique and important stories of the Forest.
The Trust’s expertise in selecting artists at early stages in their careers is nationally recognised as vital to their subsequent international profile. For example, the trail was the location of David Nash’s first ‘dome’, a structure which the artist has now created in locations across the world. By commissioning artists at crucial stages in their careers, FODST provides important opportunities for creative professional development.
Of course, you will bring your own stories and experiences which will influence the way you encounter these mysterious artworks in the forest. We hope you enjoy them now, over different seasons, and in the future, with new generations of visitors, as the old sculptures change and new works appear in time.
