St Michael’s Parish Church – 7000 Poppies and Art Exhibition
12 Nov 2018St Michaels Parish Church marks 100 years since the armistice and hosts ‘Journey Into Light’, a art exhibition by prisoners.
7000 Poppies
To mark 100 years since the armistice St Michael’s Parish Church have created a community art installation made up of 7000 poppies made by members of the Bramhall community.
Each poppy represents one family saying thank you and remembering those who gave their lives freely for justice liberty and freedom. Bringing them together will show the unity of community as well as reminding us of the scale of war.
They are very thankful to the Local Area Committee of Stockport Council for agreeing to fund this project.
You are invited to come and view the installation and add your name to the board of thanks as we say thank you to those who made the ultimate sacrifice.
Revd Calum Piper, Interim Minister of St Michaels said:
‘For the last couple of weeks we have been receiving poppies from right across the Bramhall community and worked to put them together into one installation. Its been inspiring to see the way in which the community has come together to remember and give thanks.’
Exhibition of prisoner artwork
Titled, Journey into Light, the aim of the exhibition is to demonstrate to visitors that behind every prisoner’s conviction and sentence is a personal story of love, hope and loss. The exhibition is made up of more than 40 individual pieces of art produced by prisoners from HMP Styal and HMP Thorn Cross, Cheshire.
The Revd Calum Piper at St Michael’s says the exhibition is a wonderful opportunity to see prisoners in a new light:
“Prisoners are often viewed as “the other” yet they live in our midst, are a part of our communities and contribute to our societies. The Bible has much to say about the plight of prisoners and the Christian faith recognises that every person is made in the image of God and is valued despite our individual mistakes and regrets. The Journey into Light exhibition allows us the opportunity to better understand the lived experiences of prisoners in Cheshire.”
Debbie Dalby, Director of Social Responsibility at the Diocese of Chester, says:
“We want people to view the exhibition and leave with a greater sense of empathy and awareness of prisoner experience. There is life beyond prison and we want to celebrate renewal and restoration and the hope of a brighter, more optimistic future.”
The exhibition is inspired by the work of David Ashbrook who discovered an extraordinary gift for painting whilst serving a life sentence. He painted the signature artwork used for the exhibition. On his release, David focused upon hope and renewal and was starting to share this message of love through his artwork when his life was tragically cut short in a car accident in 2008.
The exhibition is a partnership between St. Michaels, the Diocese of Chester and chaplains from HMP Styal and HMP Thorn Cross who have worked with the prisoners to produce the pieces of art. The exhibits differ in style from large acrylic paintings, abstract landscapes, and self-portraits.
The launch of the exhibition at Chester Cathedral in October 2018 attracted thousands of visitors. It is hoped that thousands more will see the artwork as it travels to 33 parishes in the Diocese of Chester between now and October 2019.
You can come and view the poppies and the exhibition of prisoner artwork during the following times this week:
- Mon 12th Nov | 9.30am – 1.30pm | 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Tue 13th Nov | 9.30am –11.00am | 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Wed 14th Nov | 9.30am – 1.30pm | 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Thu 15th Nov | 9.30am – 1.30pm | 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Fri 16th Nov | 9.30am – 1.30pm | 5.30pm – 7.30pm
- Find: St Michael and All Angels Parish Church, St Michael’s Avenue, Bramhall, Stockport SK7 2PG
- Call: 0161 439 3989
- Email: [email protected]
- Website: bramhall.church/
- Facebook: St Michael & All Angels Bramhall
- Twitter: BramhallParishChurch
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