A sculpture commissioned by Ramsey Town Commissioners and to be sited in the town’s newly regenerated area on Market Hill is nearing completion.

The work, a Ramsey Town Commissioners’ contribution to the town’s regeneration scheme, comes after the Chief Minister’s regeneration committee, in association with the Isle of Man Arts Council, invited expressions of interest from local artists for public art installations.

A number of submissions were received but it was Darren Jackson’s that resonated most strongly with the local regeneration committee and the Commissioners, who felt his proposal best expressed the town’s enduring maritime links to the RNLI, the generations of volunteer service given to the community by the institution and the sense of ‘family’ for which it is recognised.

At his studio in St Marks local artist Darren Jackson has carved the full-size clay model of a child wearing a present-day RNLI crew uniform which will be cast in bronze then erected on a plinth crafted from local granite from Poortown quarry.

The sculpture, the working title for which is ‘When I Grow Up’, has been modeled loosely on a young boy who has familial ties to the sculptor and the concept was based on an uncle of Mr Jackson’s wife Stephanie who worked for the RNLI.

Mr Jackson explained ‘Jamys has a strong and determined character which helps express the sense of next generation of volunteers I felt it important to portray.’

Ramsey Town Commissioners’ chairman Captain Nigel Malpass said: ‘Darren has created a magnificent piece of public art that will serve as a landmark at one of the town’s major gateways and pays homage to those brave volunteers who, generation after generation, give so selflessly to the community.

‘This is a fitting year in which to welcome this sculpture to our town; not only will it add to the legacy of Island of Culture 2014, but also this year the RNLI celebrates its 190th anniversary and Ramsey lifeboat station its 185th.’

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