Last Friday saw the culmination of the 4Wards Lighting project in Blackpool with a celebratory 'Light Night'. The Mayor introduced the project to pupils, parents and the public at St John's C of E Primary School. The children then took their beautiful lanterns on a procession to see the shop window in which I had installed 'Jewels'. It was lovely to see the reaction of the children, who had played a role in collecting and sorting the plastic into colours. They were so enthusiastic to see the pieces shining in the dark foggy air. Often my own enthusiasm for the work is reignited by the reaction of others. When you have worked closely on a piece for months it becomes very difficult to really 'see' it with fresh eyes. There had been a few hitches with using an empty shop unit as an exhibition space as this hadn't been attempted in Blackpool before. When it all came together I felt proud that the 'Jewels', as a product of many hands at New Directions, Back on Track and Street Life was being celebrated for others to see.
I was interviewed for BBC Radio Lancashire! Quite scary for a softly spoken artist but I hopefully managed to get across the idea of the project and the need to light up a corner of Blackpool.
The trail then proceeded to Solaris where Jessica Lloyd-Jones had installed an impressive light box sculpture illuminated by a bicycle. On to Bispham High School where Ruth Tyson-Jones had created a dance performance within illuminated, inflatable pods followed by Mark Parry's light boxes in Claremont. All of the works will be exhibited in FY Creatives from the beginning of February.
