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75-year anniversary celebrations take flight at Stourhead
To mark 75 years of the National Trust caring for Stourhead , a community art project titled A thousand feathers is now on display in Stourhead ’ s world-famous Wiltshire landscape garden .
A Thousand Feathers is made up of hundreds of individually crafted feathers produced by members of the Stourhead community and local community groups . It symbolises and celebrates how access to nature has benefited the mental and physical health of so many as we emerge from the shadow of the pandemic .
The team at Stourhead are now inviting members of the public to add their own contributions by making a feather at home using the templates and resources available on the Stourhead website and sending them to the property for display as part of the installation in the garden .
The team at Stourhead have worked in partnership with Studio Meraki , a socially engaged arts collective based in Bristol , and Somerset arts and wellbeing charities Creativity Works and Well Wessex , to design and produce the project which will be on display until spring 2022 .
Throughout this year , Creativity Works and Well Wessex reached out to local groups , including Heads Up , Chard Watch , The Balsam Centre , Frome College and Dance4Parkinsons , inviting
members to creative workshops led by Studio Meraki . During the workshops the groups discussed the ways that green spaces , like Stourhead , have been there for them throughout lockdown and made birds and feathers to symbolise their reflections to become part of the A Thousand Feathers installation .
Philip Niemand , Stourhead ’ s General Manager , said , “ Events during the pandemic have allowed time for us to reflect on nature ’ s value . There seemed no better way to celebrate Stourhead ’ s 75th anniversary than to invite our community to express what it means to them in 2021 .”
" Events during the pandemic have allowed time for us to reflect on nature ' s value ."
Philippa Forsey , Creativity Wellbeing Manager , Creativity Works , added , “ This has been a fantastic opportunity for so many community groups to connect through nature and share the joys of creating together . We ’ re looking forward to involving more people in this exciting project .”
To mark World Mental Health Day on Sunday 10th October , feathers that have been created since the project ’ s launch will be added to the display .
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