Birminghams adventurous and far reaching Big City Plan is designed to revitalise the city centre over the next twenty years.

Birmingham sculptor Katherine M Waters is offering a sculptural icon to the city, which will act as both an emblem and a tool for humanizing a rapidly changing skyline.

I have been developing the idea of an Icon for the City which I call Birmingham Babies. The inspiration developed both from my time as artist in residence at The Barber Institute, where I researched into the decorative arts of the city, together with imagery from the industrial and canal heritage. As well as my time spent in Trinidad working as a sculptor in carnival.  The Birmingham Babies are figures of babies whose legs have grown into long stilt like ladders. They stride across the city, echoes of Vulcan, reminding us of the innovative nature of our predecessors, such as Matthew Boulton, as well as a reminder that we have the capabilities within our city to move on to the next level. As motifs, both the babies and ladders are hopeful, aspirational, fun and thought provoking. I would like to create a series of these figures and let them stride across the City centre. Although tall, they will still be of human scale, this will lower the immediate skyline, but not detract from the powerful and monumental one which is developing through our architecture.

The Birmingham Babies are designed to be cast in Iron.