Editing Stoke-on-Trent (section)

===Public art===
[[File:Careful with the knife Perseus (geograph 2017699).jpg|thumb|left|Perseus with the Head of Medusa sculpture by Benvenuto Cellini at Trentham Gardens]]
The Grade II* listed statue of ''Perseus with the Head of Medusa'', which stands adjacent to the lake at Trentham Gardens, a part of [[Trentham Estate]], is a copy of an original work by [[Benvenuto Cellini]], which was sculpted for [[Cosimo I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany|Cosimo I Duke of Tuscany]] from 1545 to 1554. In the early 19th century, the then Duke of Tuscany, allowed a cast of Cellini's statue to be taken for his friend, the 2nd Duke of Sutherland; it is the only bronze cast of the statue<ref>{{cite web |title=Perseus with the Head of Medusa |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1374226?section=official-list-entry |website=Historic England |access-date=2 September 2022}}</ref> The bronze sculpture was installed at Trentham in 1840 during Charles Barry's remodelling of the estate and the statue forms a focal point for his Italianate gardens located by the lake at the south end of the central axis of the parterre. Barry designed the circular platform on which the statue is set.

[[File:Josiah Wedgwood - geograph.org.uk - 1134140.jpg|thumb|Statue of Josiah Wedgwood by Edward Davis unveiled at its present location in 1863]]
Welcoming visitors to the city as they alight from their train at [[Stoke-on-Trent railway station|Stoke-on-Trent station]] is a statue of [[Josiah Wedgwood]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Josiah Wedgwood (1730-1975) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/josiah-wedgwood-17301795-313532 |website=Art UK |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref> the centrepiece to the Grade II listed Winton Square area. The statue by [[Edward Davis (sculptor)|Edward Davis]] was cast in bronze in 1860 and first displayed at the 1862 London Exhibition (also known as the [[1862 International Exhibition|International Exhibition]] of 1862)<ref>{{cite web |title=1862 London Exhibition |url=https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/1862_London_Exhibition |website=Grace's Guide |access-date=30 August 2022}}</ref> which was the successor to the 1851 [[Great Exhibition]]. Funded by public subscription, the Stoke-on-Trent unveiling took place on 24 February 1863. A replica of the statue was cast in the 1950s for the Wedgwood Barlaston factory site, where it now stands – outside the [[Wedgwood Museum]]. In Josiah's hand is an example of his pre-eminent work, the [[Portland Vase]].

[[File:Man of Fire Geograph-342265-by-Steven-Birks.jpg|thumb|left|Man of Fire, a 1964 sculpture installed on Lewis's Store (later Debenhams), Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent]]
''The Spirit of Fire''<ref>{{cite web |title=The Spirit of Fire |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/the-spirit-of-fire-303228 |website=Art UK |access-date=5 September 2022}}</ref> also known as ''The Man of Fire'' or sometimes locally as ''Jack Frost'' or even ''The Spiky Man'', a 1964 sculpture by [[David Wynne (sculptor)|David Wynne]], is mounted upon the façade of what was the [[Lewis's]] Department Sore (designed by [[Percy Thomas Partnership|the Percy Thomas Partnership]]). The inscription below the sculpture reads: "Fire is at the root of all things visible and invisible" – a reference to the industrial heart of The Potteries: ceramics, railways, steelmaking and mining.

[[File:"CAPO" by Vincent Woropay.jpg|thumb|"CAPO" Modernist Sculpture depicting the head of Josiah Wedgwood by Vincent Woropay © Eirian Evans via Geograph.]]
''CAPO'', a modern interpretation depicting the head of Josiah Wedgwood by [[Vincent Woropay]] was originally commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council for the 1986 [[National garden festival|National Garden Festival]]. It was moved in 2009 to an appropriate site in Festival Way close to Wedgwood's [[Etruria Hall]] home. In February 2023, the statue was demolished by council contractors during works to widen the road.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corrigan |first1=Phil |title='It's a disgrace - Anger at council error |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/its-disgrace--anger-council-8105090 |access-date=17 April 2023 |date=2 Feb 2023}}</ref>  A subsequent investigation led to the resignation of the deputy council leader as the work had not been correctly planned or authorised by the council. The leader of the council has pledged to have the statue restored<ref>{{cite news |last1=Corrigan |first1=Phil |title=Council officers could be disciplined in wake of Wedgwood sculpture fiasco |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/wedgwood-sculpture-fiasco-report-raises-8213022 |access-date=17 April 2023 |work=StokeonTrentLive |date=3 March 2023 }}</ref>

''A Man Can't Fly'', commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council in 1989, is a statue of "a figure of a man balancing horizontally upon one leg ([[Arabesque (ballet position)|arabesque]], a [[Dance positions|ballet pose]]), by Cheshire sculptor Ondre Nowakowski (b.1954). The pose appears as a reference to [[Superman]] in flight. It stands atop a column with the words 'A MAN CAN'T FLY' repeated vertically around its circumference".<ref>{{cite web |title=A Man Can't Fly |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/a-man-cant-fly-313530 |website=Art UK |access-date=21 September 2022}}</ref> The location is at the Leek Road/ Glebe Street junction close to Stoke Station.
[[File:A Man Can't Fly, Stoke-on-Trent (2).jpg|thumb|A Man Can't Fly sculpture, Stoke-on-Trent, England.]]

[[File:Golden Sculpture Stoke on Trent.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Golden (sculpture)|''Golden'']] sculpture, March 2017.]]
The outskirts of [[Tunstall, Staffordshire|Tunstall]] became home to a new public art statue called [[Golden (sculpture)|'' Golden'']] in 2015. The 69&nbsp;ft (21m) steel work of art by [[Wolfgang Buttress]] was privately funded with £180,000 [[Section 106 agreement|Section 106]] monies and is made from [[corten steel|COR-TEN Steel]], the same material as the ''[[Angel of the North]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Tunstall-prepares-Britain-s-tallest-artworks/story-19283086-detail/story.html|title=Tunstall prepares for one of Britain's tallest artworks|work=Stoke Sentinel|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029213426/http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Tunstall-prepares-Britain-s-tallest-artworks/story-19283086-detail/story.html|archive-date=29 October 2013}}</ref> The tapered lozenge design features powerful LED lights that will illuminate 1,500 glass prisms containing the written wishes or memories of local residents.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tunstallmarkettraders.co.uk/events%20page%202.html |title=Tunstall Market Traders - Golden |access-date=29 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029204300/http://www.tunstallmarkettraders.co.uk/events%20page%202.html |archive-date=29 October 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Each prism will be suspended from the main body of the sculpture by a short arm, giving the artwork a bristly appearance. It is located on the former site of the Potteries Pyramid,<ref>{{cite web |title=What we know about the Potteries Pyramid |url=https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/what-know-potteries-pyramid-100k-7509782 |website=Stoke Sentinel |date=29 August 2022 |access-date=20 September 2022}}</ref> which was to have been moved to a nearby roundabout.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Pyramid-moves-mystery-remains/story-13520342-detail/story.html|title=Pyramid moves but mystery still remains|work=Stoke Sentinel|date=10 October 2011 |access-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141113115720/http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Pyramid-moves-mystery-remains/story-13520342-detail/story.html|archive-date=13 November 2014|url-status=live}}</ref>

In October 2013 a sculpture, ''Unearthed (Lidice)'' designed by Sarah Nadin (b.1983) and Nicola Winstanley (b.1984) also known as Dashyline studios,<ref>{{cite web |title=Unearthed (Lidice) |url=https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/unearthed-lidice-303234 |website=Art UK |access-date=22 September 2022}}</ref> commemorating the efforts of miners to rebuild the Czech village of [[Lidice]] devastated during the [[Second World War]] was unveiled. The {{convert|6.8|m|ftin|adj=mid|-high}} steel sculpture cost £100,000 to build and features 3,000 tags bearing the initials of people who promise to share the story of the 1942 [[Barnett Stross#Lidice Shall Live|Lidice Shall Live]] movement.  North Staffordshire-based Dashyline was commissioned by Stoke-on-Trent City Council to create the artwork, which has been installed near Hanley bus station. The sculpture was manufactured and installed by local Company, Patera Engineering Ltd based in Fenton.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/pound-100k-sculpture-unveiled-tribute-miners/story-19996180-detail/story.html|title=£100k sculpture unveiled as tribute to miners who helped rebuild a devastated Czech community|work=Stoke Sentinel|date=28 October 2013 |access-date=29 October 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131031181319/http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/pound-100k-sculpture-unveiled-tribute-miners/story-19996180-detail/story.html|archive-date=31 October 2013|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018 a pear tree, grafted from the protected pear tree which survived the destruction of Lidice, was planted in Stoke-on-Trent to commemorate the ''Lidice Shall Live'' campaign.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://mzv.gov.cz/london/en/what_s_new/planting_a_pear_tree_in_stoke_on_trent.html|title=Planting a Pear Tree from Lidice in Stoke-on-Trent|access-date=12 October 2024|date=26 February 2018|publisher=Embassy of the Czech Republic in London}}</ref>

''Arnold Bennett Statue''
This statue celebrates the city's most famous literary son, [[Arnold Bennett]]. It was unveiled on 27 May 2017, on what would have been his 150th birthday. Located on Bethesda Street on the approach to the [[Potteries Museum & Art Gallery|Potteries Museum and Art Gallery]] in Hanley, the work was commissioned by the Arnold Bennett Society, and funded by the [[Denise Coates|Denise Coates Foundation]] – then, gifted to the city. The seated figure was created by local sculptors Michael Talbot and Carl Payne.{{cn|date=August 2024}}
[[File:Arnold Bennett Sculpture Hanley 2.jpg|thumb|Arnold Bennett Statue Hanley, located on the approach to Potteries Museum and Art Gallery]]