Sculpture Square
It was founded by sculptor Sun Yu-Li in 1995 as a venue with the focus on exhibiting and fostering ‘3-dimensional’ and other forms of sculptural arts in Singapore.
The venue officially opened to the public in March 1999 with the exhibition Provocative Things: A Three Dimensional Experience in Singapore.
The organization also often held annual ‘Sculpture Carnival’ events for the public, which was mainly targeted towards children and young adults in order to hone their interest in the arts.
During its hoarding by the Urban Redevelopment Authority, Sun Yu-Li, an architect turned sculptor, found interest in the former church building due to its ‘unique architectural features’.
[2] With the help of his friend, Edmund Cheng, who was the deputy chairperson of Wing Tai Holdings, they managed to network the monetary support needed to back the funding for Sculpture Square.
[3] The total funding of more than $1.6 million for the repair works and development was contributed by the National Arts Council, as well as both public and private sectors.
The event encouraged children aged 4 – 12 to create their own mini sculptures out of everyday materials to either be brought home or exhibited.
According to its last chairman, Richard Helfer, the organization had agreed to vacate as they felt that "the accomplishment of our vision and mission is best served by not being venue-specific.
The rise of all these organizations in the civic district over the past decades could have caused the spread of public interest, as Sculpture Square was considerably smaller in scale.
The annex building was subsequently sold to the Women's Foreign Missionary Society (WFMS) and used as the Methodist Girls' School in 1891 before it relocated in 1901.
[1] The premises were hoarded by the Urban Redevelopment Authority from 1995–1999 before the space was granted by the National Arts Council to Sun Yu-Li to operate as Sculpture Square.
The Chapel Gallery was built with a gothic architectural style that resembles reproductions of English Parish Church.
The front and back of the church facades also feature a rose window on each, which was then hollowed out during its period as Sculpture Square.
[13] It was declared by the National Heritage Board as a historic site in 2000, in reference to its service as the Middle Road Church back in the 1890s.
[13] Sculpture Square primarily featured an orange exterior paint job with white windows during its operation.
One example is the Ghost: The Body at the Turn of the Century, where the exterior of the building was painted grey, with black graffiti marks to fit the theme.
Today, under the operation of Objectifs, the building is painted primarily in yellow with green windows, which is a reversion of colour scheme back to what it was commonly recognised by during the chapel's days as a motor workshop.
[2] 155 Middle Road Building had retained its church appearance, but it was vacant and badly run down, as quoted by Sun Yu Li.
[1] Sun also recalls that he saw the buildings being hoarded in and with a sign by Urban Renewal Authority stating that the land was for sale.
161 of which the ground floor had been converted into a gallery space comprising a series of three-sided rooms that open up into a common passageway down the centre.
