Black Country legend honoured in minature

Willard Wigan exhibition pays tribute to home town.

The homecoming exhibition of micro-sculptures from Wednesfield’s Willard Wigan MBE will include a special tribute to a Black Country legend.

Internationally renowned Wigan has announced that his latest work will be a sculpture of Noddy Holder, only visible through a microscope. It will reflect the artist’s view of the region – that incredible beauty and creativity is all around us, but that because of the Black Country’s natural modest nature, it sometimes needs to be discovered and highlighted.

The artist creates minute pieces of art which are displayed and viewed through microscopes. He often creates sculptures in the eye of a needle or on the head of a pin, and his following is worldwide, with exhibitions attracting visitors in their thousands.

The exhibition will open on 12th March, at Light House Media Centre in Wolverhampton’s Chubb Buildings and tickets will go on sale after Christmas. It will be launched with a VIP party, which will celebrate the cultural and sporting achievements of the West Midlands.

Light House Media Centre, which loses the majority of its public funding in April, has seen a significant boost in attendance over the past month, aided by sell out screenings of Spectre, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Hamlet and Suffragette. Advance sales of Star Wars Episode VII and Alan Bennett’s biographical comedy ‘The Lady in the Van’ are also selling extremely well and the city’s students are responding to the new £4.50 tickets for under 25s.

Marketing Manager Julie Homfray said “For our 2016 Silver Screen Year – 25 years in The Chubb Buildings, we really want to shine a light on what is great culturally – right under our noses. Light House is a charity which brings an unusual and exciting blend of culture from all over the world to the people of the Black Country in a unique setting. We’ve already increased audiences by 50% over the past three years – despite the recession – and Willard’s exhibition is a fantastic opportunity to show an even wider audience why our venue should be supported.”