Artists from a wide range of disciplines including dance, performance, painting, drawing, writing, animation and sculpture were invited to apply to work on the project. A longlist was put together with input from a number of project partners from which the final selection was made.
The artists were asked to respond to the unique nature of the site and to involve the community in the creation of work which could finally be brought together in an installation.
Suggested themes were the social / family context - what goes on inside the houses; historic context - from the coming of the railway to the 21st century; environmental context - energy issues, chimneys, wind, sky, stars etc.
The final work would need to be dynamic and effective from a distance as well as close up. It would need to fill the long width of the site and be seen from both sides.