Come and See Lillie as You’ve Never Seen Her Before

 
The Bailiff of Jersey, Sir Philip Bailhache, will unveil an outdoor art gallery in St Helier’s shopping precinct next week.The Sure Street Gallery in Partnership with Jersey Heritage will be on show for four months from 28 May to 28 September. During that time the heart of St Helier will be transformed into an al fresco gallery to exhibit 12 actual size copies of some of Jersey’s most famous paintings.The paintings - including A Jersey Lily by Sir John Everett Millais, Blue Square by Richard Allen and a loan from The Tate in London of The Death of Major Peirson, by John Singleton Copley - have been reproduced as high-resolution images and set in specially manufactured frames to be fixed to buildings such as BHS, the Post Office in Broad Street and the Central Market.Each will be accompanied by an interpretation panel and a commentary phone line that people can call to hear a personal appreciation of the painting by prominent individuals led by the Bailiff and the Lieutenant-Governor, Lieut-General Andrew Ridgway, and including actor John Nettles, the President of the National Trust for Jersey, Mike Stentiford, the Constable of St Helier, Simon Crowcroft, artist Nick Romeril and racing pundit ‘Honest’ Nev Ahier.The exhibition will be opened by Sir Philip at a reception for invited guests in the Town Church at 1 pm on Wednesday 28 May. This will be followed by an unveiling tour of the Sure Street Gallery, led by Jersey Heritage’s Curator of Art Louise Downie, starting with the Death of Major Peirson on Norwich Union House, Church Street.Eddie Saints, the Chief Executive of Cable & Wireless in the Channel Islands, Isle of Man and Bermuda, commented:"This will be a fantastic exhibition that will liven up town during the summer. We are all particularly grateful to the individuals who took the time to offer their personal view about the paintings and of course to those who loaned the paintings. I encourage islanders to stop, look and listen to the Sure Street Gallery."Sponsors Sure and Jersey Heritage hope that the exhibition will appeal to a broad audience, and to assist that process leaflets will be available from the Jersey Museum, Sure store and other distribution outlets, containing a map of the Sure Street Gallery and a monthly prize draw competition with questions drawn from the artworks and commentary.