Turner Prize winner's art on show at former court

A neon sculpture by a Turner Prize-winning artist will be installed on a former court building in Wakefield.

The artwork, which reads "everything is going to be alright", has been designed by globally acclaimed artist Martin Creed, who was born in the city.

Plans were approved for the sign to be clamped on to the Grade II* listed building, which has been empty for more than three decades.

It is due to be transformed into a public events space as part of plans to regenerate Wakefield's civic quarter.

Documents submitted to Wakefield Council said the work would aim to put the old courthouse "back on the map" as a destination for visitors to the city.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Leeds-based developers Rushbond said the proposed installation would offer a "positive message" at a time of change in the city centre.

"It intends to offer reassurance and can be interpreted as a direct reference to the positive regeneration efforts under way at the courthouse itself," the developers said.

Creed won the Turner Prize in 2001 and has previously exhibited work at Tate Britain in London, the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh and the Moscow Museum of Modern Art.

Installations similar to the one planned for Wakefield have been displayed on prominent buildings around the world, including in Times Square, New York, and at the Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art in Edinburgh.

The old courthouse was built in 1810 but has been derelict since it closed in 1992.

It is due to be reopened after being bought by the council.

A planning officer's report said the installation was designed to clamp onto the building and would will not be permanently fixed to it.

The council's conservation officer said illuminated signs were "not generally supported within conservation areas" but there were "public benefits that justify the proposal".

Approval was granted subject to a condition that the work be displayed for a maximum of five years.

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