A community panel have selected 10 people to feature in a month-long exhibition as part of Made In Corby’s Living Legends: Hidden Histories project, which has been funded by the National Lottery.
From over 30 nominations that were received the panel have selected to feature in the exhibition: Vic Hardy, Puti Odedra, Michael Mahon, Mags McGuire, John Parry, Nelson Pengelly, James ‘Jamzy’ Rodgers, Malcolm ‘The Fish Man’ Vials, Margy Whalley and Mandy Young. These individuals represent a wide variety of experiences of living and working in Corby, from a local shopkeeper on the Kingswood estate to a woman who set up a world-class sports facility in the town.
The community panel, made up of local businesses and representatives from project partners, Corby Visitor Forum (Love Corby) worked with the Made In Corby team to curate the Living Legends exhibition, which aims to uncover the hidden stories of Corby and reflect the changing population of the town. The project was awarded a National Lottery grant of £10,000 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF).
Alex Pereira, who had the initial idea of telling Corby’s hidden stories said: “It’s great to see Corby’s businesses working with the community to celebrate the wonderful stories and amazing people in Corby. I really enjoyed being on the panel and have already volunteered for another local arts project.”
Made In Corby Programme Director, Helen Willmott commented, “The community panel have done a great job of curating their first exhibition by selecting a group of 10 people who reflect so many different aspects of Corby.”
Writer Becci Sharrock and photographer Laura Dicken will now visit the 10 Living Legends to document their story and create a series of images to reflect their story. Thanks to National Lottery players, the resulting photography and stories will be displayed in an exhibition at the Rooftop Arts Centre throughout May and published in a book, which will be presented to each Legend as well as being on sale at the exhibition.
All remaining nominations will also be featured in the exhibition on a digital screen and people who would like to capture their own ‘legend’ can book in to photography workshops happening from March onwards. Other activities running alongside the exhibition include a local history talk and a day for families to get involved in creative fun.
The Living Legends: Hidden Histories exhibition will be held at Rooftop Arts Centre from 2nd May until 2nd June.
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