A huge congratulations to Abraxas Academy’s Nina Bilbey and Charlotte Howarth, alumna Sue Aperghis and BA (Hons) Carving Architectural Stone student Kate Holmes, all members of our Carving community, whose design has won the commission for the UK’s first memorial to the military service of LGBTQ+ people.
The commission was awarded following a competition to design a monumental sculpture to be installed at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire. 38 design proposals were put forwards, from which five were shortlisted. Their winning design, ‘Open Letter’, was announced at an event on 11 January as part of the 25th anniversary of the lifting of the ban on gay people from serving in the UK Armed Forces.
‘Open Letter’ is a free-standing letter made from forged bronze, featuring words taken from evidence that was collected from veterans who were personally affected by the ban. Their concept symbolises the personal letters collected as evidence to convict, expel and imprison LGBTQ+ personnel during the ban, and represents the fear of receiving a formal letter accusation.
This commission is being overseen by LGBTQ+ Military Charity Fighting with Pride, with the design and construction funded by a £350,000 grant from the Office for Veterans’ Affairs in the MOD.
Charlotte Howarth commented:
“This is extremely personal for some of our members, some of which are members of the LGBTQ+ community including one who did not enlist due to the ban, and one member who served in the armed forces after the ban was repealed. Every member of the team is a highly skilled craftsperson with their own areas of expertise. Inspired by this historic injustice and the exciting act of collaboration we have worked tirelessly to design a beautiful bespoke sculpture we hope Fighting with Pride charity and the community as a whole will be proud to call their own.”
Nina Bilbey shared:
“We hope this memorial will help ease some of the distrust and pain experienced by LGBTQ+ veterans and become a beacon of hope for future generations who will witness this work and be reminded of the healing power of reconciliation and the public acknowledgement of historic discrimination.”
Well done to Nina, Charlotte and team, and we greatly look forward to seeing updates on the project later this year.
Nina on BBC Breakfast, Sunday 12 January