Art competition held as part of Leamington church's fundraising campaign for roof repairs
A Leamington church has held an art competition as part of its efforts to raise more than £200,000 to carry out urgent repairs to its roof.
Our Lady’s Church in Valley Road, Lillington, has one of the finest examples of Dalle de Verre glass windows in the country and a watertight roof is needed to protect them.
Dalle de Verre is an unusual technique using thick slabs of coloured glass – very different from traditional stained glass.
Entries were invited from parishioners and from Our Lady’s and St Teresa’s Primary School.
The brief for entrants was to produce a drawing or painting inspired by the spectacular colours in the church windows.
Mark Kaiser is a prominent Leamington artist with a distinctive style and a great love of colour, which made him the perfect judge.
Mark said there were some very accomplished paintings amongst the older age group entries, and the paintings by younger children were vibrant, and really captured the beauty of the windows.
Liz Mottram won the adult category, Molly, Phoebe, Isabelle and Evie were winners in the 8-to-15 Years section and Charlie, Oshy and Niamh were winners in the Under-7 age group.
Our Lady’s Church is open this Sunday (September 19), as part of the Heritage Open Days festival across the Warwick district when visitors can see the beautiful windows and view the art competition entries which are all on display.
Running from now to September 20, the festival will see sites in the district showcased, which are not usually open to the public or would normally charge an entry fee.