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A sculpture has been unveiled in Bolton's Queens Park on a scale never quite seen before. Some say the entire episode is even a bit fishy…

Fine Art degree student, Maggie Hargreaves, won the right to have her sculpture stand (or should we say swim) in the park through a competition involving the University and Bolton Council. The sculpture was a three-metre long fish made out of metal and covered in wooden scales. It was recently unveiled to the town and was part of a community wide arts project funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Programme leader for Fine Art at the University, Alan Buckingham, worked with Sue Rigby, Landscape Regeneration Manager for Bolton Council, to get this project off the ground.  He said: 'The council wanted to use artists to help generate an interest to the park, and bring more visitors and users - especially families and young people.'

Maggie said: 'The University and Bolton Council came together. There were a several entries and mine was chosen. The brief for the competition was all about community, so inclusion was a big part of my process.' 

And that's why Maggie can't take all the credit for her piece. She had some help from children who attend local schools, in keeping with the community ethos of the project. 

The children helped her decorate the fish's scales, which have a unique feature that will leave a lasting legacy: 'The scales are detachable. This means that children in the future can still get involved with the arts and decorate the sculpture how they want. Art should be about communities coming together and I hope my sculpture goes some way to helping that.'

 Maggie is in the final year of her degree and wants to continue producing public art and get involved with projects at local schools. Her current vocation is a world away from her previous jobs. Maggie used to be scientist and, after years of working as a biologist, traded her lab coat for an easel. She found the University of Bolton helped her with the transition and is currently finishing the degree part time.  She said: 'I've always enjoyed art and used to take night classes and courses around work. Then I decided to go for it properly when my children reached secondary school. The course here accommodates me very well. I've enjoyed it'.