Spirit of Romero Gallery made for for primary school hall!
Gallery of Good Examples made for a parish hall!
Gallery of Greeters & Inspirers made for the outside of a town centre church!
World School Wall made as a lasting outdoor present for Malala's 18th birthday!
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in parish & school halls (and other fallow spaces)
started by Hugh Gibbons of South Berkshire Pastoral Area
These Galleries show an alternative approach - one that's easy, worthwhile, engaging, specific and unique to you, and full of surprises and smiles.
These Galleries have a mix of big figures, chosen not by a committee but a whole community. If you like the idea, you'll need to find someone local with a bit of spare time and space and paints, an eye for opportunity, imagination, and sense of humour. You also need to trust them to have your ethos in mind as you give them creative freedom.
If you'd like to know more, you'll find detailed pages on both Galleries using the links below.
Or get in touch with me at
hughgibbons@just1.org.uk
Tel 01344 451847 which is Bracknell
With best wishes
Hugh Gibbons
PS You'd like me to paint a Gallery for you? Thanks, but No. Happy to advise, yes. But it's a community project, down to you.
Nice write-up by David Jones in The Catholic Universe Last Word series on 26th September 2014. Click here for the article.
SOME FEATURES OF HOME-GROWN GALLERIES & THE LIKE
- Tailored for the setting - and time
- Permanent - on wood, painted in acrylic
- Colourful - following the style of family artists in El Salvador
- Fun and full of good humour - through the mix of figures and depiction
- Home-grown - with the figures chosen by yourselves
- Low cost - the cost is £60-100 for the materials
- Educational - as each figure can have
- Adaptable - messages can be changed
- Interesting to the eye every or day or for visitors
- Full of good humour - a snapshop of the nature of a school or parish
- Newsworthy - a good story to share in the local or regional press
- Guides can be as slideshow or printed form - or as websites like this
- Generate more good news through correspondence with the figures
- Can carry messages about social justice campaigns and issues
Their
origin of the Galleries lies in an original
scaled-up variation on the well-known Romero
Crosses. The one on the far right was painted to
go outside St Francis of Assisi church in South
Ascot - code-named Big Oscar (as it was to be a
form of tribute to the spirit of Archbishop
Oscar Romero of El Salvador - the world-loved
"voice of the voiceless."It's a bit like a stained-glass window lit from the inside, and is meant to be enjoyed by passing motorists, cyclist, pedestrians - as well as the pupils and parents at the primary school next door.
The Cross is made in three parts with wood from Wickes, and involved some serious carpentry with doweling to get the flat surface 2400mm high. There's quite a lot of engineering round the back, as well as a wooden frame and many coats of varnish.
This Cross introduced some fun, being enjoyed here by parishioner Sarah (who had visited El Salvador with her parish in Ohio USA) and daughter Anja. St Francis is holding up a dove and a globe. Oscar Romero is peeking round, in his trademark glasses and eyebrows. And a small crowd of parishioners give a wave. Why is the bird upside down? You tell me.
Using this as the springboard, the next move was to accept the invitation to create something inside and in the horizontal - the Gallery in the hall at St Margaret Clitherow Primary School in Bracknell.
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Parishioner Sarah Nikkel was surprised to see Big Oscar - she'd visited San Salvador with her parish in Ohio. Daughter Anja has promised to come back in 2063 and share her experience!
NB The Cross is no longer on public view. In 2014 the parish gave it to St Francis of Assisi Primary School, where it's tucked away out of sight in he grounds - which are accessible only through the security gates. So any potential viewers should contact Reception there.
on the 400cm beam above the big screen in the busy hall.
The 7 big figures were specified by the 200+ children, Year by Year.
They chose Malala Yousafzai, The Queen, Sir Isaac Newton, The Virgin Mary, David Beckham, The Good Samaritan, and Florence Nightingale. The staff chose a governor. Oscar Romero carries a postcard with the message Aspire Not To Have More But To Be More. In the centre is a wooden Romero Memorial Cross painted by Lazaro Rodriguez in La Palma, El Salvador.
The staff have a slideshow and a folder with details of each of the figures as part of the RE and citizenship studies resource.
Acclamation for the Gallery came from people and places associated with the figures - including Buckingham Palace, the Vatican, the United Nations, the Royal Society, CAFOD, the Embassy of El Salvador, and the Florence Nightingale School of Nursing.
The Gallery attachment points for bunting or banners - as seen in the photo on the right at a retirement party the day after it was put up. Teaching assistant Maureen was painted in as a late present!
for a full guide to this gallery.
This website includes a useful slideshow of the story in PDF and PowerPoint formats for schools and others to use.
Both
have not only the detailed commentary on the
figures, but information on Speak Out for
Fairtrade, Stand Up & Sing Out Against Poverty,
and Acclaim Campaigners on Romero Day (with a
list of other United Nations Observance Days).
St Francis, the IF Campaign, HM The Queen, Fred the springer spaniel facing down corgis, The Good Samaritan and Sam the paramedic donkey
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It is 2400mm wide x 300mm deep, with a wooden frame, guide to the figures on either side, and detachable cork noticeboards underneath.
Eight of the big figures were specified by the 26 candidates for Confirmation in 2014 - all of whom also appear as small figures on the Gallery.
The big figures they chose as "Good Examples" were Nelson Mandela, Brian O'Driscoll, Martin Luther King, Demi Lavato, Fr Adrian Walker,
Fr Danny McEvoy, Rosa Parks, St Josephine Bahkita, Mary Berry and Gordon Ramsay.
St Joseph, St Margaret Clitherow and Archbishop Oscar Romero also appear as big figures, together with with some smaller figures.
This Gallery features several of the figures carrying placards as on a rally, and small wooden artistic items from El Salvador.
for a full guide to this gallery.
Rosa Parks, St Josephine Bahkita, Nelson Mandela and Brian O'Driscoll (plus some of the Confirmation candidates)
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