An insight by Sarah Galloway, Glass Artist
At the beginning of March The Very Rev Sue Jones, Dean of Liverpool, led an Evensong Service dedicating my glass artwork that forms a new memorial to the Victorian social reformer and feminist Josephine Butler. A champion of women's rights, Butler was a prominent figure in the successful campaign to repeal the Contagious Diseases Act in 1886.
Recognised as a powerful force for change, I have conveyed Butler's positive dynamism through the representation of rutilated quartz, a mineral associated with supercharged energy, cleansing and purification. The flowers depicted in 23 carat gold include the yellow rose, with its association with the suffragette movement, angelica (inspiration), chamomile (patience in adversity), edelweiss (courage and devotion), speedwell (feminine fidelity) and the wallflower (faithfulness in adversity). The cast bronze leaf fixings represent both beech (symbolising revelation of experience) and birch (new beginnings and renewal)".
Since being unveiled, I am delighted to have had a very positive response to the work. Philip Daniel, Clerk to the Cathedral Committees has said that the "... designs are a worthy and beautiful addition to the treasury of decorated glass in Liverpool Cathedral dating from the 19th, through the 20th and, now into the 21st centuries. There have been other fabric interventions, but I think I am justified in saying that the Josephine Butler Memorial Space, and specifically Sarah's screen, marks the first major new work of art in the Cathedral since the Edwards window at the west end in the 1970s"
The artwork has been funded by the Josephine Butler Memorial Trust. Pauline Lewis, the trusts Chair has said "Josephine Butler was an outstanding Christian writer, educationalist, lobbyist, and feminist who is depicted in the Noble Women Windows of the Lady Chapel. We hope the space will be used to highlight those vital issues of social justice which Josephine championed, notably gender equality in society (notably her work on higher education), a just penal system, domestic abuse, and human trafficking".