| Admin/Biog History | In 1990 Petherbridge was commissioned by the Works of Art Committee of Birmingham City Council to undertake a large-scale mural spanning the foyers, across all floors of the Symphony Hall in the new International Convention Centre.
She started painting with a team of five assistants in late Jan 1991, after delayed access to the site.
In early Mar 1991 when the mural was over half finished, a row of stainless steel-barriers approximately 1.1m high, were placed in front of the mural on all floors to comply with liquor licensing regulations. The barriers created a visual barrier stopping the mural from being seen.
The design brief given to Petherbridge stated that the work would be viewed from outside when lit at night and would be seen from differing angles and distances within the building. NatWest Bank plc also sponsored the mural on the understanding that it was a highly visible work.
Petherbridge stopped work on the mural and through her solicitors 'Stephens Innocent' she fought for her moral rights as an artists and that the barriers were an infringement of the brief to which she had carefully conformed her design to; asking for the barriers to be removed. She also campaigned by getting art academics, critics and artists with knowledge of the public art field to write in her support.
Birmingham City Council argued that Petherbridge was in breech of her contract by stopping work. After negotiations for alternative barriers, Petherbridge recommenced work to finish the mural on 10 May 1991, and was completed 8 Jun 1991.
Petherbridge remained in contact with Birmingham City Council until Dec 1991 over payment disputes. In Dec 1991, Petherbridge also published an article in the Financial Times discussing her experience of working on the mural.
Within this time Petherbridge had moved into her new studio in De Beauvoir and was living there whilst it was being renovated. |
| Description | This file includes extensive correspondence concerning Petherbridge's mural commission, and the fall out over the installation of barriers. It includes correspondence from Petherbridge's solictors 'Stephens Innocent', various members of staff at Birmingham City Council, and from various art academics, critics and artists with knowledge of the public art field.
It also includes images of the barriers in front of the mural.
Of particular note:
-draft letters sent on behalf of Petherbridge to various experts in the field of public art, with responses
-list of individuals letters were sent to
-letter from Petherbridge to Lord Palumbo, dated 17 May 1991, discussing the Birmingham commission
-notes written by Petherbridge on the chronology of events relating to the mural comission
-'Moral Rights: A case study of the right to object to derogatory treatment in UK intellectual property law' written a research student at Stephens Innocent |
| Image Caption | Letter from Petherbridge to Lord Palumbo, dated 17 May 1991, concerning the timeline of the Birmingham mural commission and his intervention |