My colleague Peter Davies, who has died aged 80, was an artist, arts administrator and latterly professor at the University of Sunderland. He raised the profile of visual arts in the north of England and also championed Welsh identity – especially through the Beca group of artists he and others formed in the 1970s with his brother, Paul.
Between 1974 and 1992 Peter was visual arts officer for the public body Northern Arts, where his greatest successes included establishing the first forest sculpture trail at Grizedale, Cumbria, in 1977, and public art commissions such as the Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen Bottle of Notes sculpture unveiled in Middlesbrough in 1993. Peter also initiated Art in the Metro programmes, and artist residencies for Durham Cathedral and Sunderland FC.
