Quartet of artists to bring festive display to Kirkham town centre

Under a festive project which sees local business owners working with Kirkham Cultural Consortium, each artist has been commissioned to come up with designs inspired by lines from a Christmas carol.

The local community have been asked to rewrite the seasonal song Twelve Days of Christmas, changing it to the Twelve Days of Kirkham, with each day inspiring a window design.

The first day of Christmas will be represented by a K for Kirkham, inspired by medieval illuminated letters.

It will be created by the artist Maxine Lee-Mackie in partnership with the local community and pupils from Kirkham and Wesham, St Michaels, Pear Tree and St Joseph’s schools.

Kirkham Cultural Consortium is an organisation tasked with the development of a cultural programme designed to increase awareness of the town’s rich heritage, which includes no less than a Roman Fort, 11 textile mills, Fish Stones and at least 40 Club Day Queens.

Twelve business including Pink Tree Parties, Footprints and Serendipity have volunteered their windows and Heidi Hopkinson of Serendipity in Poulton Street said: “This is something totally unique for Kirkham. It will be amazing to see what festive designs the artists come up with, and I can’t wait to see them.”

As well as Maxine, the artists planning to add to Kirkham’s festivities and bring a little bit of Christmas magic to town are Gill Smith, Gaenor Hall, and Katie Halsall, each artist with their own distinct style.

Gill illustrated ‘Maria’s Island’ (2021) by bestselling author Victoria Hislop and recently, ‘Saving the Butterfly’ by award winning author, Helen Cooper, both published by Walker Books.

Maxine works with international publishers and has worked with clients such as Disney and Marvel and has also published several books, including one for Christmas this year called Dear Father Christmas.

Katie is an illustrator inspired by European fairy tales, nature and the twinkly night sky, while Gaenor is an artist captivated by nature who works across a wide range of media, bringing energy and a sense of drama to her mark making.

The artists are painting the festive displays on Tuesday, November 15 and Thursday, November 17 and the designs won’t be the only surprise in store as each window design will include buried treasures in the form of Roman coins, something not uncommon to Kirkham.

Visitors to the town will be invited to find them and submit their answer to a prize draw. with three prizes on offer of £50 vouchers each to spend in participating local shops.

Kirkham councillor Liz Oades said: “This is a great way to celebrate the heritage of Kirkham and animate the high street. With the addition of the treasure hunt, these festive decorations will be a fantastic way to entertain the family and learn more about heritage.

“The artwork will be on display until early January, so there is plenty of time to visit Kirkham and enjoy the festive scenes”.