Except that he may not be black. For the past year a small group has been working on restoring the statues to the northwest and south west niches of the Parish Church tower. The statues were taken down in 1963 (see photo of the Wilts and Glos Article) with a promise that at sometime they would be put back.
Following the guidelines for commissioning church art the project group have held a national competition to help design statues for the niches. A call from Expressions of Interest attracted national attention and from the responses five artists were chosen to provide initial designs. All the artists had a national reputation and had been involved in major projects. A display over the Heritage Open Weekend allowed us to see the range of styles under consideration.
All the artists spent some time in Cirencester visiting the church including attendance at services , trips up the tower and speaking to local people. The five designs were considered by a panel of experts in December.
The criteria for the project asked that the design
• Showed an understanding that the Parish Church stands at the spiritual heart of the community
• Is sympathetic to the surrounding environs, enhancing the fabric of the church now and for future generations
• That the design was sympathetic to the fabric of the building and to the local environs
• Is visually engaging, exciting and of high quality in terms of both creative design and proposed material output)
The artist chosen was Rodney Munday. His proposal is to create the two statues in bronze. He says he had originally intended to present St John as a rugged figure bearing a staff, but discussions with the vicar and members of the congregation changed his thinking. His statue of St John the Baptist now has the saint holding out a lamb. His statue of the Virgin Mary shows Mary holding a child who is inquisitively looking down into the Market Place. (Sketch of virgin).
The designs are at an initial stage and Rodney will be visiting Cirencester regularly over the coming months to engage with the church congregation and the wider community to refine his ideas, so that the finished statues truly reflect the aspirations of the church.
Rev Graham Morris, who was part of the selection group said “I am really thrilled that we are having the statues back. It is a project that is dear to the heart of many people. The designs reflect both the theological and ecclesiastical aspirations that I had, plus the wider sense of community engagement. I am confident that we will have new works of art that really do justice to our church and congregation”.
The chosen design was approved by the PCC in December and has been submitted to the Diocesan Advisory Board for approval. Hopefully in February there will be the go-ahead to take this project to the next stage. Next month in the Parish Magazine we will feature Rodney Munday and his work, but you can find out more about his work by looking at his website. An example of a national project he completed at Plymouth Minster can be found on “Art at the Minster” (Plymouth). This shows how he worked with the congregation on St Andrew the Fisher.