High ambitions

The University is backing the Cambridge Standing Tall art trail to support the aspirations of young care leavers in the region.

Proceeds from the city-wide trail of 31 large giraffe sculptures – which includes three sponsored by the University – will support Break, a charity working with young people in and around care in the East of England.

The University has sponsored: Growth, located outside Great St Mary’s Church on Senate House Hill, Cosmic Explorer at Eddington Square, and Hubert outside the door to the West Hub in JJ Thomson Avenue.

Growth is at the heart of education, so East Anglia artist Charlie Stafford’s design was a perfect fit for the University, which also shares Break’s commitment to helping young people achieve their full potential, regardless of background. The welfare system in place at Cambridge includes a range of services to help support our care-experienced students.

Charlie, an art lecturer at USP college in Essex, said: "The design is inspired by the idea that no matter where you come from, or what start you’ve had in life, you can grow as a person, create your own opportunities and become your 'best self'. Most of us have experienced some level of hardship in our lives, so people can connect with the sculpture on any level they want.

"Personally, it represents a huge part of who I’ve become as well. Growing up, my family didn’t have a lot of money, and I was actually a young carer myself, and that was a big focus of my life.

"It’s also about sustainability, regenerative practice and giving back to the community, because community is a big part of how you move forward. If I hadn’t had the help of all my teachers and everyone else who banded together around me, I wouldn’t be where I am now. I’ve had a lot of support, and if I can give that back I will."

As well as the giant giraffes, more than 60 smaller 'Mini G' giraffe sculptures – decorated by schools and community groups – will be on show in shopping centres, shop windows and libraries, as part of Cambridge Standing Tall’s Learning & Community Programme. University students took part in a workshop with Charlie to decorate one of them, Gerard, which is on display in the Grand Arcade.

"It was great," said Charlie. "I think it aligned really well with them, and it was really good to hear them talk about themselves, their experiences and how much they love the University. They were so forward-thinking and creative with their designs, and each one of them now has some sort of ownership on the art, and has represented some part of themselves, no matter how small."

Cosmic Explorer is the name of the artwork in Eddington. It speaks to the community because of the link to the neighbourhood namesake Arthur Eddington, a Cambridge physicist whose experiments confirmed Einstein’s theory of general relativity and led to its general acceptance. The feet of the giraffe are rooted in planet Earth's different landscapes, and as your eyes move up, the artwork takes you beyond into the universe.

Artist Amrit Singh said: "The artistic design of the giraffe is based on the idea of a creative and cosmic wanderer: a person who ventures to new places, and the excitement and wonder of exploring new frontiers. It’s also inspired by the imagination and all the fantastic places our minds can create. It is abstract landscape which uses elements of nature and space with vibrant colours, bold shapes, metallics and texture which invites you to touch and experience the artwork.

Hubert – the promotional giraffe for the Cambridge Standing Tall Trail – is outside the door to the West Hub, and a Mini G, co-sponsored with residential developer Hill, and painted by schoolchildren at the University of Cambridge Primary School, is on display in the Storey’s Field Centre in Eddington.

Kamal Munir, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for University Community and Engagement, said: "The University of Cambridge is committed to widening participation in higher education, including for care-experienced and estranged young people through the Realise Project, which supports students from highly marginalised groups typically under-represented at the university level. We are pleased to support Break and are looking forward to participating in Cambridge Standing Tall."

Corpus Christi College is also taking part in Cambridge Standing Tall. Mini G Camelopard (a medieval word for ‘giraffe’), was decorated by PhD student Emma Bouckley.

Find out more about the Standing Tall Trail at: www.cambridgestandingtall.co.uk

The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.