F.E. McWilliam Gallery

The Friends of the F.E. McWilliam Gallery and Studio, established in April 2011, is a very young society with a current membership of just over one hundred. The society aims to give the Gallery as much support as possible. Although it is hoped to purchase sculptures by McWilliam for the collection it seems unlikely that the society will be in a position to do so for some time. Charitable status has been achieved so in an attempt to improve the financial position and support practicing artists, the challenge to design a Donation Box which would attract lots of attention was widely advertised. Ten responses were received from both established and emerging artists. The modest budget for the piece, including artist fees, was £1500 and it was interesting to note how many artists obviously considered the accolade of having their functional sculpture on permanent exhibition in the Gallery of more importance than the remuneration. Some responses included a degree of automation, several focused on reflecting McWilliam's themes and materials and others simply planned to create very beautiful sculptures. The selection committee had, therefore, a very difficult task but finally made a unanimous decision to choose a proposal by sculptor Alan Burke which, they felt, successfully combined both aesthetic and functional qualities. The sculpture, created in stainless steel and copper will be incased in a perspex box with a small aperture at the top. As coins fall through the sculpture and make contact with the metals these will resonate like tuning forks and chimes. Perhaps this will encourage those making the donation to repeat the process! It is hoped that the sculpture will be completed and installed prior to the 30th April which is McWilliam's birth date.