News
Love Letters to Radstock – Artists Announced!
Two artists have been commissioned by Creativity Works to create exciting and engaging artworks with the Radstock community, inspired by St. Valentine.
Love Letters to Radstock, is a new arts project delivered by Creativity Works, an arts organisation, who have been based in the town for more than 30 years.
We’re hoping to create a positive and uplifting project with the Radstock community after such challenging times over the past few years. Through this project we really want to emphasize the love for people, place and community. We are really interested in exploring the myth of St. Valentine, who is celebrated in many countries and communities all over the world, not only as a symbol of romantic love, but also as a symbol of friendship, generosity and affection. For example; In Sidon, a city in Lebanon, Valentine’s Day is celebrated with the whole family as it is more about family love than a couple’s love and in Finland and Estonia, Valentine’s Day is more about remembering friends, not significant others.
“We had an incredible response from artists based all over the country wanting to be involved in the project, however we were only able to choose two artists, Alicia Ridley and Ellie Shipman. Their approach stood out as it was about engaging the local community in high quality arts activity and creating beautiful and interactive pieces of art that can be enjoyed by the whole community as well as visitors to Radstock,” said Oliver Jones Director of Creativity Works.
The Two Projects are:
The Angel of Radstock – Artist Alicia Ridley
A stunning terracotta ‘Angel of Radstock’ complete with the names of loved ones and those who’ve inspired us written on its wings.
“I am looking forward to the workshops and working alongside the young people of Radstock to create the angel’s wings. Imagining the feathers with the messages and names of treasured people is exciting,” said Alicia.
Love Letters Trail – Artist Ellie Shipman
An intriguing love trail of letters placed around the town.
“As a participatory artist with a love of bringing people and places together, I’m looking forward to the Loveletter to Radstock project as an exciting catalyst to explore the beauty, history, curiosity, and characters which shape this town,” said Ellie.
We can’t wait to begin working with Radstock residence of all ages and hope they will get involved by joining us to make the love letters, the trail maps and of course, the angel itself.
Keep an eye out for more details coming out over the next week about how you’ll be able to get involved!