Statue: Sculptor Shortlist announced!
After an overwhelming response from exceptionally talented artists, the campaign can announce its shortlist.
The Jack Leslie Campaign is working towards a lasting monument to this pioneering football legend and is delighted to announce the four short-listed candidates to design and sculpt the statue, which will be situated outside Plymouth Argyle’s stadium, Home Park.
Through March the committee reviewed artist submissions and were blown away by the quality, imagination and scope of the proposals, before drawing up a long-list. The commissioning team is made up of the committee, together with Jack’s grand-daughters, Lynn, Gill and Lesley.
Campaign Co-founder Greg Foxsmith said, “We would like to thank all the artists who spent such time and energy on creating such brilliant proposals. It made it really difficult for us to select a shortlist but there were four artists whose ideas and portfolios stood out.
The short-list:-
ELISABETH HADLEY. http://www.hadleysculptures.co.uk/
ANDY EDWARDS (In association with MONUMENTAL ICONS: https://www.cornoviiedwards.com/ / https://monumentalicons.com/
DOUGLAS JENNINGS. http://www.douglasjennings.co.uk/
BEN TWISTON-DAVIES http://www.bentwistondavies.com/
Jack’s grand-daughter Lesley said, “We love the design ideas and we are excited to see a statue that is an accurate portrayal of Grandad and reflects his significance in football history.”
Jack Leslie Campaign co-founder, Matt Tiller, said, “It’s such an important decision that we are taking great care working with everyone involved to create a fitting memorial. We will now be interviewing the short-listed candidates and, no doubt, have an even harder time ahead choosing the final sculptor but we are excited at the prospect.”
More Information on the campaign and process to date:
Jack Leslie signed for Plymouth Argyle from Barking in 1921 and scored 137 goals in his 13 years with The Pilgrims. The pinnacle of his career should have been in 1925 when Jack was selected to represent England in a game versus Ireland, but his name was removed from the team sheet when officials discovered that he was black. (See Jack’s story)
The Jack Leslie Campaign was set up in in 2019 by a couple of Argyle fans (Matt and Greg) who had learned of the story, and they were soon joined by a diverse team of volunteers .
In July last year the Campaign launched a crowd-funded appeal, and smashed it’s £100,000 target in six weeks.
In December last year we threw out an invitation to prospective sculptors to express an interest.
In February we began commissioning: https://jackleslie.co.uk/news/statue-competition-started/
The campaign is also keen to hear from businesses who would like to get involved. These extra funds will not only help the statue project, but also the educational work involving the monument and the Jack Leslie story. Please contact us for more information: jacklesliecampaign@gmail.com