To be annoyed that parents let their children use a statue in our town as a climbing frame?

[Gameboy]

We live in a market town. In one of the cobbled squares there is a fairly newish, metal artistic statue thing (about 5 ft tall). There are lots of bars/ restaurants around the courtyard.

Today we were sitting in a bar at lunchtime overlooking the square and watched a family with an 8 or 9 year old boy waiting around while he climbed all over the statue, even to the point where he was sitting on the head.

I couldn't quite believe it. They looked like normal, law-abiding folk, but they just obviously seemed to think this was OK? I noticed a few other people in the bar watching them and tutting, so obviously I wasn't the only one who noticed.

Just to be clear, this isn't a big concrete thing, it's actually an artistically designed thing, with a plaque about the artist etc, and could presumably be damaged by kids being rough with it.

I wouldn't dream of letting my children do this, not least because there's one of the best parks in the area two minutes walk away.

If it had been a 3 or 4 year old exploring, perhaps I'd understand, but a 9 year old? He should know better surely?

Yes, should know better and I wouldn't let mine do this. I can't imagine that they would do it without asking me tbh and if they asked I'd say no. So this does seem odd. Are there signs sayniog "don't climb on it"? Not that people should assume that just if there aren;t signs then you can climb but ykwim.

I used to snog The Wife of Bath whilst waiting for taxis in my student days, usually aftyer some filth and onions from a delightful "mobile Caterer" called My Van

yer such a lady sheik

YANBU but public art is built to withstand this type of abuse so it is unlikely to be damaged.

I know, Twiggers. Classy to the core, me.

where's the Wife Of Bath statue then? Don't remember if from Bath but is it somewhere Chaucer ish?

By the Abbey, opposite the Empire (Orange Grove)

It might not be called that though, but that's what we used to call it

Oh ok, not that I would necessarily have noticed it when I lived in Bath, it was a while ago now

It's a fountain, I think.

I have only ever really looked at it pissed and at 3am. I never go to that end of town now really

And the Lion and Lamb lay down together.This is not a concrete thing, but it gets a repaint every few years, the children of the town love it.

Hmm - not as sturdy as that Bree. But even if it's unlikely to get broken, surely that's not the point? That's not what it's there for?

at climbing on the Henry Moore sculptures....

I think this is just one of those things which seems 'harmless' enough, but sends the wrong messages right from an early age... that same boy will probably be the one who will be standing in the toddler swings and breaking them in a few years time

I know children love to clamber on these sorts of statures, but I think they should be discouraged from doing so? What happens when you take them to a proper gallery, are they allowed to climb on all the pieces of art?

I wouldnt let mine do it but I dont think a child climbing over a statue obviously able to withstand it is the same as climbing over art in an exhibition.

I accompanied DS1's school on a trip to the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, and was dismayed when the Head Teacher told all the children not to touch any of the sculptures.

He told the children that they were representing their school, and he didn't want anyone thinking that they didn't know how to behave.

I wouldn't let my children climb on a statue, but sculptures are such tactile things that it is a shame that the children can't feel them.

If the piece in question is robust enough then so what if kids climb on it. Art in the public realm is usually constructed with an eye on the fact that it might take a bashing.

I am all for climbing on public art. It would be a poor do if we stopped people climbing on the lions' in Trafalgar Square of a new years eve.

also the the Yorkshire Sculpture Park (great day out I urge you all to go) is choc full of huge Henry Moore and Anthony Caro sculptures which people are allowed to clamber all over.

If it's outdoors, it'll be built to withstand such behaviour. i like the idea of being able to climb on public art - get a real sense of the shape and texture of something that way. May have to try it myself sometime...

As long as they're not going to break it then where's the harm?

i'm with peaches, i think there's something lovely about being able to experience public art in such a tangible way. you never know, by the time they're sixteen they could be sculptors and artists themselves... i'd most definitely let dd clamber over something if i thought she wasn't going to damage it. unless it was a henry moore in which case i could live with the guilt.

There's a statue in Perth of the eponymous Fair Maid, which has her sitting on a bench. She regularly has lushes draped over her, covering her in goodness-knows-what but she's surviving the years very well. And the statue of Queen Victoria in Aberdeen oftimes is crowned with a traffic cone, which makes me chortle when I see it. I wouldn't let my 8yo climb on a public statue but I don't think it actually causes harm.

And fwiw, Stonehenge is now just plain boring since they banned folks from hugging the rocks.

Hmmm..tough call. I think that they should be encouraged to touch it but not sure about clambering purely because it might spoil it. I used to live in Paris and everyone climbs on the statues there. Even the adults!

I've been involved in commissioning a piece fo public art and all of the artists spoke about how they encouraged 'exploration' of their work. If it is modern it is likely to have been designed with this in mind.