13-year-old’s art showcased at Macclesfield funeral home
Pupils at All Hallows RC Academy were recently given the chance to show off their creative skills and design a glass panel for the reception area of the Broken Cross, Macclesfield, Co-operative Funeralcare – and one lucky artist had her work featured.
Emma Nay, 13, won the competition after the school’s new arts teacher Hannah Tofalos and funeral arrangers Gillian Crawford and Julie Burgess invited all pupils aged 12 and 13 to design a non-denominational picture, portraying a positive message and suitable for a funeral home.
Emma’s design, which depicts a flower in three stages – a bud, opening, and in full flower – was chosen because it represents the stages of life, making the funeral home feel less intimidating and more a part of the local community.
“As a business at the heart of the community, we wanted to involve local teenagers in helping us to bring some light, warmth and a welcoming touch to the funeral home,” said the funeral home’s manager, Nick Wiscombe.
Miss Tofalos worked with her afterschool class and invited Ian Bailey, a local stained glass artist, to talk to her class about design and how the panel would be made using different types of glass.
“It was a very hard competition to judge,” said Gillian Crawford, who was joined by Julie Burgess and Ian Baillie on the judging panel. “We chatted to each of the pupils and listened to their reasoning behind their design. They had all produced wonderful artwork so it was extremely difficult to decide on the winning design.”
The finished product is on display in the reception of the Co-operative Funeralcare.
Image: (L-R) Julie Burgess and Gillian Crawford from the Co-operative Funeralcare and Anthony Billings, headteacher at All Hallows RC Academy, with Emma Nay at the official unveiling.
