St Luke’s Hospice is running a public art trail in Plymouth this summer. The project is called St Luke’s Guiding Lights Exhibition and features lighthouse sculptures dotted around the city. Each lighthouse is decorated with a unique artwork from a talented artist, and members of the public are encouraged to follow the trail and see how many they can spot.
Earlier this year, businesses were invited to sponsor a lighthouse and choose the artist and design they wanted to feature on it. David and Charles was delighted to support this creative initiative that helps raise funds for the wonderful St Luke’s Hospice in Plymouth and sponsored a lighthouse.
At the Art Selection event in January, the proposed designs were showcased, and David and Charles chose to sponsor a design called ‘Starlight’ by artist Donna Newman. The concept behind her design was:
Poets have often referred to heavenly bodies, such as the sun, moon and stars, as 'Lighthouses of the Sky'.
This design has been inspired by Plymouth's rich maritime history and the art of celestial navigation. Ancient mariners would have navigated their ships at night by studying the stars in the sky and using tools such as the Sextant, Compass and Astrolobe to calculate their location. In the design the artist has created illustrations of the sun and moon orbited by stars, planets and constellations.
The metallic gold linework shines brightly against the midnight blue of the night sky.
David and Charles was also pleased to be invited to the official launch event in July, where all the lighthouse designs were in one place before they got taken to their various locations the next day. The members of staff who attended the event took some photos of the stunning lighthouse:
Although there will be large lighthouses that stay in the same location for the duration of the trail, the one David and Charles has sponsored will form part of the Roaming Lighthouse Exhibition, which is an exhibition of smaller lighthouses that will appear at different locations throughout the summer.
The David and Charles lighthouse is going to appear at the following places. If you see it, please take a snap and tag @dandcbooks, @wildinart, and @stlukesplymouth. We’d love to see your pictures!
6 July – 19 July: Salcombe Brewery Tap House, 1 Island Street, Salcombe, TQ8 8DP
20 July – 2 August: Kingsbridge, Split across 3 locations: Harbour House Gallery, Kingsbridge Library & Velarde Gallery
3 August – 16 August: Tavistock, St Luke’s Hospice Shop, 2 Duke Street, PL19 0BA
17 August – 30 August: Dartmoor Zoo, Jaguar Suite, Sparkwell, Plymouth, PL7 5DG
31 August – 13 September: Mount Edgcumbe, Barrow Centre, Torpoint, PL10 1HZ
(If you would like to follow the complete trail, it is accompanied by a Guiding Lights app with maps, a pedometer, and information about the trail. Souvenir maps will also be available from Plymouth Tourist Information Centre and city centre St Luke's charity shops.)
