THE dream of bringing public sculpture to Hove seafront has moved a step closer with three winning designs brought to life in miniature.

The first three sculptures set to take up residence on Hove Plinth were unveiled in small scale form at a mayor’s reception last night in Brighton.

The three miniatures, by Matthew James Davies, Pierre Diamantopoulo and Jonathan Wright were selected following a public vote and selection panel earlier this year.

They will now be used to help raise funding to make the designs a full-scale reality.

Organisers have said they need to raise between £50,000 and £100,000 to construct each of the sculptures.

Around £60,000 has already been raised for the plinth with a decision on a funding application for the remaining £40,000 expected later this week.

Organisers are offering a range of funding packages including founder schemes, corporate sponsorship and public donations.

Corporate donors are being offered the opportunity to sole fund one of the sculptures themselves giving them the choice of where to locate it once its stint on the plinth is through.

Hove Civic Society has also called on the expertise of a sponsorship agency to help attract corporate support for the plinth and its artworks.

It is hoped that the first sculpture could be put on the 2.5 metre plinth in King’s Esplanade in time for spring 2017.

Each sculpture will be in place for up to 18 months before being moved to a permanent position somewhere else in the city.

Mr Wright created his own miniature sculpture of his design Constellation on a 3-D printer.

He said: “I have worked closely with a structural engineer on how this will scale up and to ensure that when it becomes full-scale it can be delivered on budget and within health and safety rules.

“Funding is always the big bugbear but the project has been very well run by Karin with very good publicity so I cannot see a problem.

“I really enjoy doing public realm, I get great satisfaction working with the community, I’m not interested in just plonking something in front of them.”

Karin Janzon, lead project manager for Hove Plinth, said: “I’m feeling very positive about the funding, we have already got a long way with funding the plinth itself and now we can offer a real example of what will be there."

For more information visit hoveplinth.org.uk, for corporate sponsorship opportunities email karin@hovecivicsociety.org or to donate visit justgiving.com/hovecivicsociety.