The Project:

Environmental glass artist, Arabella Marshall, is making a large artwork to be installed into an ancient ruined chapel in the middle of windswept grasslands on the Suffolk coast; a soaring glass “window” of luminous colour for a building which has no roof and whose walls have eroded into irregular shapes. The site is abundant with wildlife, most notably birds, yet is threatened by rising sea levels and more immediately the expansion of the nearby nuclear power station. The piece will be a joyful celebration of life but also a poignant reminder of the impermanence of the form life takes. It will be called “A Wing and a Prayer”. The installation will launch a 3 year project - we are inviting people to use the artwork as a catalyst for creating their own activities from drawing to walking to singing to storytelling to film-making to researching, writing and discussing and to get as many people to take part in these, free of charge wherever possible. We already have a number of activities planned for the first year involving a well known local artist, Snape Maltings (Aldeburgh Festival), a local school and a project which addresses loneliness. “I want the artwork itself to take your breath away; I want the whole project to get people thinking and feeling about their interrelatedness to the natural environment and discover how art can be what connects them.”

The Place:

RSPB Minsmere is a fabulous, though vulnerable, wildlife location on the Suffolk coast comprising woods, heathland, grassland, river and shingle beach. It has a rich but little known history from the fleeing monks in 14C to the manouvers of WW2, giving way to the return and new arrival of hundreds of species of birds and wildlife. Tens of thousands of people visit the area each year and RSPB can arrange for disabled access to the chapel site.

How the Money will be Spent:

Although this marks the beginning of a 3 year project the funds we are seeking right now are specifically for the making and installing of the artwork. This is our next step and the one from which everything else will flow. Arabella has been developing the project for the past two and a half years and has received local funding to complete the necessary investigations into exactly what can be done and how it can be done. We happily have permission from Historic England and RSPB to go ahead as well as the technical specifications for the building preparation and the glass itself. Arabella has decided to forgo an artist’s fee for making the piece. This is no small decision as she has a studio to keep running but her commitment to the project is paramount and she recognises the huge gift she has been given in being able to take it forward. This will help us reach our target in time for summer 2019. The figure that we are seeking from this campaign covers: builders preparing the chapel walls for the installation , the making of the artwork ( materials and studio costs only ), the making of the steel frame and fixings , the delivery and installation of the piece . This actually comes to £11,500 but we have already been promised £1,400.

The Artist / Project Leader:

The project is the idea of local artist Arabella Marshall. Arabella has a background in Fine Art, attending Central St Martins and Maidstone School of Art, and has worked with glass since 2001. Her work explores the nature of things and how life expresses itself in form. Her studio, founded in 2003, has enabled her to establish a creative hub with talks, exhibitions and classes. Having created pieces for various outdoor locations e.g. Dartmoor National Park, private gardens and Norfolk wetlands, she has developed a strong technical understanding of the requirements of glass in an outdoor setting. Arabella has led the development of the project in partnership with RSPB Minsmere and has the necessary permissions in place as well as solid costings and a range of partners who will encourage public engagement and debate.

To Say Thank You:

Additional funds permitting, we plan to acknowledge project supporters in a variety of ways: names will added to the information board to be erected on site as well as to the project catalogue which we are planning to produce. There will also be specially mounted and framed photographs of the artwork given to donors over £500. You will all of course be invited as special guests to the launch event.