Lochside Primary School has been an important part of the North West Dumfries community since it opened in 1962, offering a place for education, play and coming together as a community, many residents and their children have attended the school with fond memories.

In May 2018 deputy head at Lochside Primary School Laura Proudlock contacted The Stove Network with the idea of creating a commemorative sculpture to mark the closing of the school, and Creative Future’s Public Art Project Worker Kirsty Turpie took on the role of lead artist.

Kirsty led a series of community consultation events including workshops and schools visits before it was decided that a mosaic totem pole with a shape to represent each era that the school was open would be created.

Further workshops were held allowing pupils to contribute mosaic designs representing their memories of school, alongside personalised clay tiles and metal components featuring a handshake to represent friendships and a pencil to represent education were created. Three additional concrete shapes were created to place on slogans associated with the school; ‘values’, ‘skills’ and ‘knowledge’.

On the base of the statue a mosaic design reads ‘Together everyone achieves more, Lochside Primary School, 1962 – 2018’, and on the pencil an inscription in gold reads ‘In memory of Lochside Primary School’.

The former Lochside Primary School was transferred into the ownership of the Dumfries YMCA in 2019, and with the go ahead from the YMCA the statue was installed in to the former Primary School grounds, unveiled by the Gala King and Queen at Lochside Gala in July 2019.

Image credits: Euan Adamson.