Yardley Arts tutor, Clare Abbatt is shortlisted for the Emily Williamson Statue
Clare, a well known Northants sculptor and also a popular tutor at the Yardley Arts community arts centre, is taking part in the national competition for a statue to honour the legacy of Emily Williamson, the inspirational founder of the RSPB. Of all the sculptors entering, Clare is one of just four shortlisted in this prestigious public competition.
Clare's entry shows the figure of Emily Williamson, née Bateson, standing next to a young girl, representing Professor Melissa Bateson, Emily’s great, great niece as a child. The child holds a starling in her hands which is just taking flight. Starlings have declined in the UK by 66% since the 1970s, with a decline of 41% in Greater Manchester during the last two decades. This links to Emily's original campaign against the fashion for feathered hats, which led to her creating the RSPB in 1889, then the passing of the Plumage Act in 1921.
Clare writes: “I feel passionately about the natural world, the need to learn about it and save it for future generations. I also feel a commitment to Emily Williamson and have a great interest in the work she and her fellow campaigners did to achieve so much. It is a story people should know.
“I also want to celebrate what the RSPB is doing today, by creating a piece of work that engages visitors of all ages, which children in particular can enjoy and learn from. The future of the natural world, conservation and the RSPB will become our children’s responsibility.”
Clare’s shortlisted sculptures will be cast as small-scale bronze maquettes at the Lockbund Sculpture Foundry near Cropredy, and unveiled with the other three shortlisted sculptures in Manchester, in July 2021, the Centenary of the Plumage Act.
“I also feel a commitment to Emily Williamson and have a great interest in the work she and her fellow campaigners did to achieve so much. It is a story people should know.”
Clare's maquettes show Emily at 40cm and the child at 26cm. The figures are modelled first in clay, then the foundry makes the moulds and casts them in wax (part of the ancient lost wax process of bronze casting), before the pieces are cast in bronze and the patina applied.
The sculptures will be exhibited in four RSPB locations around the country with a national public poll to determine the winner by November 2021, after which a life-size sculpture will be created and placed in Fletcher Moss Park, Didsbury - Emily's home, her beautiful garden and her inspiration, on 23 April 2022, Emily's birthday.
These photos show Clare's maquette and her drawings of the three founders of the RSPB: Emily Williamson, Etta Lemon and Eliza Phillips.
Keep visiting our website and our Facebook page to learn how Clare's sculpture develops and she progresses in the competition.
For more information about the Emily Williamson and the Sculpture Competition, go to the official website: www.emilywilliamsonstatue.com
Clare lives and works in Northamptonshire and enjoys developing independent projects and exhibitions and the creative collaboration of working to commission. She is also an associate educator at Fermynwoods Contemporary Art and teaches at Yardley Arts and C2C Social Action (supported by the Arts Council England).
To learn more about Clare Abbatt and her work, visit her website or follow her on Instagram.