An unusual artwork created to encourage people to connect with local history has been voted the best piece of public art created in Kent in the past two years.

'Ghost' in Sheppey, by Kent-based international artist Adam Chodzko, has won the Liberty Kent Public Art Award 2011, which is given by Kings Hill developer Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd and Kent County Council.

The work was commissioned by the Whitstable Biennale 2010 and project managed by Art at the Centre Swale. It is a specially made kayak/sculpture, which ferried people to Deadman's Island, off Queenborough, Isle of Sheppey. The island was used as a burial ground in the 18th and 19th centuries for those who had died on the prison hulks moored in the River Swale.

Made from hundreds of strips of cedar, mahogany, oak and ash sealed with resin, the vessel's surface incorporates iconography relating to the theme of a deathly voyage.

In 2010, one by one, members of the public were ferried to the island, laying down flat in the vessel like a body in a coffin, their head slightly raised for the solitary, slow, meditative journey. The passengers were given control of a video camera mounted at the bow of the vessel and encouraged to make their own film of the journey, participating in the creation of an archive of film.

These films have recently been shown in Athens and the artist is looking for opportunities to show them in Kent. The kayak is currently being shown in an exhibition called 'The Profane Myth' in Newcastle.

The award was judged by an expert panel, headed by design guru Wayne Hemingway MBE, which also included: Mark Davy, founder of Futurecity, the UK's leading arts and placemaking agency; Stephanie Fuller, Senior Manager for Regional Planning at Arts Council England South East; Rosa Ainley, a Kent-based writer/artist and Anna Harvey, a Young Arts Ambassador for Kent.

Announcing the award at the Kings Hill Golf Club, Wayne Hemingway said: "Public art used to make me despair, but over the past decade or so towns and cities have started to wake up to how art can really contribute to placemaking.

"Adam Chodzko's Ghost references the community in which it was made and experienced. Some will say that this is a brave choice of winner with its transient and experiential nature, but I believe it reflects the innovative thought processes that are creating clever works in the public realm that make us connect with the history, geography and community of the spaces that surround us."

Now in its 17th year, the Liberty Kent Public Art Award carries a substantial total prize, which this year was increased to £17,000, with the first prize of £7,000 going to the winning artist and £5,000 to the winning work's commissioner. The commissioner of the winning piece receives the Rouse chair, designed by Kentish craftsman Will Glanfield, with their details engraved on it, to keep in a place of honour for two years.

The second prize goes to the runner up artist but this year the panel decided to award the prize jointly. Judge Mark Davy from Futurecity was so impressed with the quality of the entries that he added another £2,000 to the second prize, making a total of £5,000. Futurecity has agreed that this donation to the overall award prize pot will be on an ongoing basis.

Mark Davy said: "Futurecity's decision to contribute to the Liberty Kent Public Art Award reflects the growing importance of the competition and recognises the extremely high calibre of artists now applying for the award.

"In the past 8 years Futurecity has encouraged a more imaginative, multidisciplinary approach to art in the public realm, an approach that has seen Futurecity set up hundreds of commissions for collaborations between artists and architects, engineers, scientists and writers. We predict the award will continue to grow in stature and are proud to support it."

This year the runner up prize was awarded jointly to Out of Tune in Folkestone and Iconic Site in Margate, each receiving £2,500. 'Out of Tune' by Norwegian artist A K Dolven, is a 16th century bell that was removed from a belfry because it was out of tune and suspended 20m above the town's seafront.

'Iconic Site' by Sans façon, a collaborative art practice between British artist Tristan Surtees and French architect Charles Blanc, is a red neon text on the derelict Fort Road Hotel and was designed to change the public's perception of one of the town's landmark buildings. This strategy appears to be working as property developers have now been invited to tender to create a visitor accommodation appropriate to Margate's creative aspirations.

Andrew Blevins, managing director of Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd said that 'Ghost' was an exciting artwork that met the criteria of good public art. "Public art should engage audiences and communities, generating interest and understanding of the environment and the community in which it is situated - and 'Ghost' did this excellently.

"For the first time ever we awarded the second prize jointly because both are so impressive and fitting for their locations. The quality of entries for this year's award was tremendous and it is encouraging to see that there are so many quality commissions in Kent. We are looking forward to working on the next Liberty Kent Public Art Award, which will be in 2013."

Sally Staples, head of Kent County Council's Arts Development Unit, added: "I am absolutely delighted to see Adam win this award. He is an exciting Kent based artist creating work of international repute. It is fabulous that his work can be hosted in the county.

"We are also delighted for Whitstable Biennale who have been bringing superb work into the county for many years. Kent County Council are pleased to be working in partnership with Liberty Property Trust to bring an award to Kent that recognises success. We are confident that the Liberty Kent Public Art Award will help support Kent's creative practitioners and grow our cultural offering."

Anyone who would like more information on the award should visit www.libertykentpublicartaward.co.uk

Kings Hill is set in 800 acres near West Malling and is just two miles from junction 4 of the M20. It was a former airfield and is now home to around 6,500 residents and more than 100 businesses employing some 5,000 people.

There is an 18 hole golf course, cricket pitch, David Lloyd leisure centre, further recreation and sports amenities, schools and a village centre with shops, restaurants and cafes as well as a surgery, vets and opticians.

For more information visit www.kings-hill.com

For further information, please contact:
Alison Hardy, Maxim on 01892 513033 / Alison@maxim-pr.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

Adam Chodzko, who lives in Kent and is internationally renowned, has exhibited at the Venice Biennale, Tate St Ives and the Royal Academy of Arts in London.

The Whitstable Biennale is a festival of contemporary visual art exploring performance and artists' moving image. The Whitstable Biennale 2010 was the fifth festival and presented a series of major new commissions, including new works by Phil Coy; Adam Chodzko; Katie Paterson; Anna Lucas; Olivia Plender & Unnar Örn; Karen Mirza & Ruth Beale; Alex Pearl and Mikhail Karikis. Kieren Reed's sculpture operated as the Biennale HQ for the two weeks and Uddin & Elsey launched a two-year project. The organisation is currently planning the next festival for September 2012. http://www.whitstablebiennale.com

Art at the Centre Swale is a pioneering scheme funded by Swale Borough Council, Arts Council South East and Kent County Council. It seeks to embed creativity within regeneration practice across the region, engaging artists to develop projects and community events in the heart of key projects across the Borough. Art at the Centre aims to contribute to regeneration teams that cut across Council departments, as well as the public, private and voluntary sectors, with a belief that sustainable regeneration needs to invest in people as much as places. http://www2.swale.gov.uk/aatc

Wayne Hemingway, who co-founded fashion label Red or Dead, now runs HemingwayDesign with his wife Gerardine, specialising in affordable and social design. He is the chairman of Building for Life, the national standard for well designed homes and neighbourhoods. He is also Chair of the South Coast Design Forum, sits on the Design Council's Board of Trustees and their CABE Committee, and has judged the Stirling Prize. He was awarded an MBE in the June 2006 Queen's Birthday Honours List.

Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd (formerly Rouse Kent Ltd) is a subsidiary of US-based Liberty Property Trust, a Real Estate Investment Trust, listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Liberty Property Trust (NYSE:LRY), headquartered in Malvern, Pennsylvania, is a leader in commercial real estate, serving customers in the United States and the United Kingdom, through the development, acquisition, ownership and management of superior office and industrial properties. Liberty Property Trust owns and manages more than 700 properties totalling 77 million sq ft, accommodating 1,900 occupiers and has a market capitalisation of $6.5 billion.

Liberty Property Trust UK is developing Kings Hill - www.kings-hill.com - as a rapidly growing new community combining commercial, residential, educational, retail, community, sports and leisure uses within 800 acres of highly landscaped low density park land. The US inspired concept aims to promote quality of life and provide a unique environment in which people can live, work, play and study. In addition to providing accommodation for SME's, Kings Hill also attracts significant international tenants such as Barclays, Rail Europe, Cabot Financial, Man Group and Kimberly-Clark.

Liberty Property Trust UK Ltd is also developing Didsbury Point business park in Manchester - www.didsburypoint.com, the Cambridge Biomedical Campus adjacent Addenbrooke's Hospital - www.cambridgebiomedicalcampus.com and Blythe Valley Park in the West Midlands - www.blythevalleypark.com.

Liberty Property Trust UK and Kent County Council have formed a collaborative public/private sector "partnership" having entered into a Development Agreement to create an exemplar mixed-use community. Kings Hill is the County's flagship development for attracting inward investment and promoting regional economic growth and it also seeks to deliver in all areas of existing and evolving Government policy priorities.

Kent County Council's Arts Development Unit provides strategic leadership and co-ordination for the development of the arts in Kent, to ensure that the arts are realising their full potential for community engagement and empowerment, distinctive place-making and contributing to the wider economy.

Kent County Council recognises that sensitive, well-planned public art development can play an important role in enhancing the urban, suburban and rural environment of Kent. Public art can give a sense of identity, inject a feeling of local pride, transform empty spaces, help to increase tourism by improving environments for visitors and have a positive effect on economic regeneration by stimulating activity in town centres and beyond.