The rich culture and heritage of East Kilbride has been depicted in a stained-glass window to mark the town’s 75th anniversary.
Recently installed at East Kilbride Arts Centre, the bespoke design is the work of Leadhills-based artist Fiona Foley, and references everything from Aztec Camera and AC/DC, to the iconic Plaza shopping centre and Whirlies roundabout.
Fiona has been working as a tutor at the Arts Centre since it opened in 1994.
Stained glass has been her career since graduation from Glasgow school of Art in 1991, and she has undertaken commissions as varied as Gloucestershire Cathedral, Rolls-Royce, as well as a number of schools projects throughout South Lanarkshire.
An arts tutor at the centre for more than 25 years, Fiona was supported in the project by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture and received funding from East Kilbride Arts Council.
Brought up in Strathaven, Fiona says she is "honoured and privileged" to have been given the opportunity to depict the history of East Kilbride in the medium she knows and loves so well.
She told Lanarkshire Live : “I have spent more than a quarter of a century working at the Arts Centre and to have been given the chance to create a bespoke piece that will forever be a part of it is a genuine honour.
“With the help of the local library and archivist, I set out to research the artistic and cultural events that have enhanced the lives of East Kilbride citizens over the years, and this final piece is my interpretation of some of the most significant of those.
“I hope that visitors to the Arts Centre will recognise its elements and enjoy looking at it as much as I have enjoyed working on it, and that it will stand the test of time for many more anniversaries to come.”
The window includes many and varied aspects of the town’s eclectic performing and visual arts history including an image of Wendy Taylor’s ‘Whirlies’ sculptures; a musical score detailing the local reference in the lyric of Aztec Camera’s ‘Somewhere in my Heart’ and tickets from the 1950s pantomime at the Village hall, through ACDC’s performance at the Olympia to a recent performance at the Arts Centre of ‘The Yellow on the Broom’.
Fiona also likes to incorporate images hidden within the lead work and in this case, the anniversary numbers ‘75’ and the initials ‘EK’ are there to be discovered.
Leader of South Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Joe Fagan, went along earlier this week to meet Fiona and see her work first-hand. He said: “As Scotland’s first new town, East Kilbride already has a very special place in history.
"Over the past 75 years this town has evolved from what was a housing overspill for Glasgow to the country’s second largest town with a history and reputation all of its own.
“Heritage and Culture have helped to make us who we are.
"Whether it be music, sculpture, architecture, or work such as this magnificent window, it represents the very best of us, and reminds us of what makes East Kilbride a town that so many, me included, are proud to call home.
“My thanks go to SLLC, EK Arts Council and Fiona herself for commissioning and creating this unique and special piece to mark such a significant anniversary. I would urge as many people as possible to visit the centre and enjoy the story it tells for themselves.”
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