Art between Birkenhead Park and Central Park, New York

Jul 15 2009 by Lorna Hughes, Birkenhead News

YOUNG people from Wirral and New York are working together to create a unique piece of art.

For Upton Hall School’s Secrets Memories Prayers project, participants have created a small textile bundle from seven pieces of fabric.

A small piece of paper containing a secret, memory or a prayer has then been placed into each.

The end result has seen around 350 fabric objects gathered together and suspended from the ceiling of the gallery in Birkenhead Park Pavilion.

Materials have been sent to Central Park in New York to allow young people there to record their own experiences.

The end result will be exhibited in New York next June and organisers hope it will also be taken to the Shanghai Expo in August 2010.

Ann Spears from Upton Hall said: “We have an art exhibition each year at an external venue and we thought we’d link up with the Parks for People project in Birkenhead Park.

“The initial idea for the project came from the writings of the French philosopher Montaigne, who talked about a swirl of thoughts above our heads.

“We then ran workshops at Fact in Liverpool, at Upton Hall and at Our Lady of Pity Primary in Greasby.

“Cathy Warren from Parks for People put us in touch with her contact in New York, Amy Hitchcoff, and we’ve sent over all the materials to her so young people there can do something similar.

“Everyone is incredibly excited about the fact that their work is going to be travelling thousands of miles.”

The second phase of the project will see the voices of participants reading their memories, secrets and prayers recorded.

Composer John McHugh will create a composition based on the sounds of Wirral and New York dialects to be performed by pupils and professional musicians at a concert in Birkenhead Park. The concert will be beamed by satellite to Central Park.

Ann said: “Eventually we’re hoping we’ll have 1000 secrets, memories or prayers in the sculpture.

“It’s become a real multi-disciplinary exhibit and the next phase will be about recording the voices and creating a piece of music based on the sound of the two accents together.

“The project has really gathered momentum. The sculpture looks fantastic.”

The connection between Wirral and the Big Apple dates back to 1850 when F L Olmstead visited Birkenhead Park.

Olmstead later designed Central Park, incorporating many of the features he first observed in Birkenhead.

Cathy Warren from Parks for People said: “We are happy to have collaborated with Upton Hall School to continue and develop the connection with young people in New York.”