Nottingham’s newest public artwork – located outside East West Nottingham at Tollhouse Hill/ Upper Parliament Street – celebrates Maid Marian, a legendary figure from Nottinghamshire folklore, often associated with community, resistance, and care for the natural world.
Artist Alicja Biała says that Marian is reimagined through native plants, stories, and the people of Nottinghamshire. Plants used to create the sculpture include Nottingham catchfly, English oak, silver birch, hawthorn, bluebell and common nettle, species connected to the ecology and folklore of Nottinghamshire woodlands.
Maid Marian stands on a sandstone boulder plinth, symbolising roots to Nottingham’s history, ecology, and communities.
More than 700 people from local groups – including Sutherland House School and Nottingham Women’s Centre – took part in hands-on workshops led by Alicja Biała, exploring medieval making traditions and inviting new interpretations of historical forms.
Their physical creations – wax moulds of local flora sourced from Nottinghamshire’s landscape – were cast into bronze to be used on the Maid Marian sculpture.
Launching on Friday 17 July at BACKLIT gallery is a new exhibition ‘OUR MARIAN’ also celebrating Nottingham’s overlooked female folklore figure. Located just behind Sneinton Market, the exhibition brings together newly commissioned works across sculpture, film, textile and fashion, alongside extensive community input that reframes the legendary figure through a contemporary lens.
