Michael Disley was commissioned by Wakefield Council to create an artwork to celebrate Normanton’s proud mining history.  Michael has created a striking piece called ‘Snap Time’ carved from granite and incorporating seating.

The artist took inspiration from the strong camaraderie in Normanton’s mining community and hopes that people will be able to use the installation to sit and enjoy their ‘snap’ together. During his commission Michael engaged over 200 children and local residents sharing skills through his ‘School of Rock’ workshops. The artwork is now in situ on the High Street in Normanton town centre.

Michael said:

The first thing that you will notice about ‘Snap Time’, the new three tonne granite celebration of mining sited in Normanton, is that it is a happy, positive piece of work.
I wanted to stay away from the usual iconography of mining memorials; so no pit wheel or ravaged-faced miners here, rather a happy pair of miners on their break, enjoying a joke and their snap. The sculpture is in three pieces, with the figures flanked by two large snap-tin benches, again in granite. These have the names of some of the many miners’ jobs now lost to time . No explanations of what the work entailed here, this is a task for the older generation of Normanton to explain to their grandchildren.

Image credits: Wakefield Council and Beam

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