Laurence Skelly MLC praised ‘Sculptural Isle of Man Cliffs’, a drawing of the cliffs near Spanish Head, which was donated by Professor Michael Sandle RA.
Mr Skelly was speaking at a presentation held at Legislative Buildings where he extended a welcome to Professor Sandle and guests, including Members of Tynwald and representatives from Isle of Man Post Office, Culture Vannin, the Isle of Man Arts Council and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution.
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Sculptural Isle of Man Cliffs is the second of Professor Sandle’s works to be displayed in Legislative Buildings, the first being his donation of a maquette - the proposal for a figure of Godred Crovan, to be sited in Cooil y Ree at St John’s but yet to be realised.
Professor Sandle moved to the island with his family when he was six, and he is a former student of the Douglas School of Art.
Mr Skelly said that Professor Sandle ‘had always remembered his roots in the Isle of Man’ and he urged those unfamiliar with his work to view the Lifeboat Men memorial in the Marine Gardens in Douglas, which referenced the island’s enduring seafaring heritage and the ‘hidden gem’ that was the viking sculpture on the exterior of the Erin Arts Centre in Port Erin.
Mr Skelly also thanked Professor Sandle not only for donating such ‘an outstanding piece of artwork which will be treasured by Tynwald’ but also ‘for inspiring this and future generations of artists.’
Professor Sandle said that he was pleased to donate his drawing to Tynwald and he spoke with fondness of his childhood years in the island, a place he and his family soon came to view as ‘paradise’ after relocating from England.
The chairman of the Isle of Man Post Office, Chris Thomas MHK, presented Professor Sandle with a framed set of stamps depicting six of his major public works, which included the Lifeboat Men memorial and the viking sculpture, in recognition of his enduring generosity to Tynwald and the people of the Isle of Man.
Receiving the set of stamps Professor Sandle thanked everyone involved in the production of the collection with which he said he was ‘over the moon’.