Following a very successful initial design phase, during which we received 38 very high-quality design proposals, the memorial team has had a busy start to December, studying the design submissions in detail. We had established clear factors against which the proposals would be judged, based on expert inputs from our steering group colleagues and our honorary art advisors, and each design was carefully considered against these factors. A bespoke judging panel of veterans, serving personnel, FWP trustees, artist advisors and a senior representative from the National Memorial Arboretum, spent many hours scoring the design proposals, from which a long list of designs was selected. A full day was then spent discussing the long list in depth, to narrow the long list down to a short list. After much discussion we managed to whittle the list down to 5 high quality and very varied proposals. This short list was then endorsed by the full LGBT+ Armed Forces Community Memorial (AFCM) Steering Group and subsequently by the Board of Trustees at Fighting With Pride.
The shortlisted artists were all then given individual feedback from the judging panel to help them prepare for the final selection day on Fri 10 Jan 2025, in central London. The shortlisted artists will all be interviewed by the full judging panel to discover their motivation and their detailed plans for the project. They will also be invited to construct a scale model (maquette). Following the individual interviews, there will be an evening reception where the scale maquettes will be on display and the winning design will be announced. There is an opportunity for a limited number of places for members of the LGBT+ Armed Forces Community to attend this reception and the grand reveal announcement of the winning design, which will be a kick-off for the 25th anniversary of the ban being lifted weekend.
To register your interest for an invite to the reception, please complete your details here https://wkf.ms/3ZySvUq
Once the final design has been selected, we will be firmly into the preparation and production phase – more next year!
You can learn more about the project here
Roly Woods Memorial Officer & Kevin Bazeley Deputy Memorial Officer, Fighting With Pride
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