The eye-catching illumination was placed above the doorway of the civic building for six weeks as part of the Your Name Here competition to rename Lyons Yard green land on Ravenhead Greenway Park after someone with a connection to St Helens. Your Name Here was a project conceived by artist Joshua Sofaer who encouraged the people of St Helens to get involved in this interactive public art competition. The project called on people to nominate someone they thought deserved to have the park named after them. Those submitting a name were asked to explain their nomination with a story, drawing, painting, video, photo, sound recording, or even an object. The person they put forward needed to have a strong connection with St Helens, whether historic or more recent. Applicants from anywhere in the world could enter online at www.winyournamehere.
co.uk, by post, or in person.
Hundreds of entries were submitted over the course of the campaign with a staggering 17000 unique visits logged to the competition website over a six week period. A judging panel including St Helens Council Leader Cllr Barrie Grunewald, comedian and actor Johnny Vegas, Saints’ player James Roby and artist duo Yellow Door Artists, created a shortlist from hundreds of nominations and selected Vera Bowes as the winner. Vera Bowes from Fingerpost, nominated herself as a child, using her original name of Vera Page to acknowledge and confront her difficult childhood. Today Vera Page Park is part of the St Helens’ landscape.
Cllr Grunewald said: “Vera’s story touched us very deeply. It’s one of much hardship, which we can all relate to at some time in our lives. But it’s also a story of steadfast endurance in the face of such tragedy, and an inspiring soliloquy of strength against adversity for every one of us.”
At the park on September 5th 2015 the St Helens Male Voice Choir unveiled its new name with a performance, including a special commissioned piece for Vera. Free workshops by artists Claire Weetman, Angela Wilkinson, Alison Kershaw, Michelle Wren, Jane Barwood and Jeni McConnell ran throughout the afternoon alongside garden games, refreshments and rugby drills, creating a celebratory afternoon acknowledging this new public space in the town.
Artist Joshua Sofaer, said: “There were a number of themes that emerged from Your Name Here: stories of forgotten figures from St Helens; people who have given to their community; nominations for loved family members and tributes to friends; memorials for those who have passed; and people who nominated themselves with very different reasons. Nominations were sometimes funny, often deeply moving, and always sincere.”
An eight-page limited edition publication of nomination was distributed to over 70,000 homes through the September 9th 2015 edition of the St Helens Star and can also be found on the Heart of Glass website
www.heartofglass.org.uk
@derroNNorred: Why is there a neon sign above St Helens Town Hall saying Your Name Here?
@JohnnyVegasReal This is great! Chance to rename a park after an every day St Helens superstar
@annkane Great day at The Vera Page Park renaming. The Girls loved it!
@mikepalinmp
Just visited the new Vera Page park. Worthy winner.
@weareyellowdoor Such a lovely day at #YourNameHere unveiling the Vera Page Park with @ TheHeartofGlass at the weekend!
@celebpa Lovely afternoon spent at Vera Page Park. Great event @ TheHeartofGlass The kids had a fab time & I learnt to knit!
@andyjbowden the opening of Vera Page park, #sthelens named after a member of our community.
@harris79 At the opening the newly named Vera Page Park in #StHelens with Andy Reid.
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