Callington Community Arts is planning to create a community based sculpture in honour of the town and to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee as part of MayFest 2022.

Creation of this new sculpture will be funded by a £15,000 grant from the National Lottery to Callington Community Arts, which is being used to fund a range of creative projects run by the group, connecting with the community via workshops and activities in schools, churches and carehomes.

The idea to create a town sculpture came from many discussions with residents of the wider parish and the arts group. Now the group is appealing to Callington residents and those who visit the town on a regular basis in the hope that they will be raring to have an input into a lasting piece of street art to commemorate the town for many years to come.

Any realistic suggestions for the design of the installation or ideas on its ideal location are welcome. These could take the form of a few descriptive words, the idea of a theme or, if you have any drawing skills, a sketch of your ideas. There is no requirement for anyone to be an artist or a designer.

The Community Arts group will have a stand in the town centre at Callington MayFest on May 14. People can come and speak to the group here and share ideas here during the day amongst the festivities including many stalls, a procession and two stages of music.

Peter Watson, Callington town councillor and member of the Arts group, said: ‘We’ve already had a host of submissions. Ideas that have come in so far are very traditionally Cornish. A lot centre on mining, miners, bell maidens, tree of life, the environment and different groups in society.

‘We’re still gathering responses. There is certainly no one specific idea in mind, we just want something that will represent the town. It could pay homage to the town’s history, it could celebrate Callington as it is now or it could represent ideas for how people think the town will look in the future.’

Commissioned artist Mark Gregory will be the central force in creating the sculpture. He welcomes the opportunity to have people join him in workshops and discussion groups to help him add substance to the initial designs and move on to seeing the project through to its conclusion. He has previous experience in creating other community sculptures relevant to location such as a pligrim figure in Dartmouth Embankment to commemorate the sailing of the Mayflower in 1620 and a giant clock at Compton school to commemorate the history of the building.

Peter said: ‘It’s still very early days; the sculpture doesn’t have a home planned as of yet, it’s very dependent on what form the sculpture’s design takes as to the location it will be placed in. We’re aiming to have it in place by the end of the year and possibly unveil it at Christmas. Many aspects are all the subject of future discussion however. For now we’re excited to see all of the submissions that come through.’

Do you have an idea for what Callington’s new sculpture could be? What image or idea do you think would best represent the town? It could be to do with history, politics, culture, people location, industry. It can be anything - free-standing, on a wall, a gate. People can submit as many ideas and/or drawings as they like. The sculpture is likely to be in metal but colour is encouraged where appropriate or fitting. Email your ideas to [email protected]