Coventry Cathedral: Artists invited to apply for broken window commission

The first of three commissions was by artist Anne Petters

Coventry Cathedral is asking artists to apply to exhibit work to temporarily replace a vandalised window.

The artwork will stand in place of the Angel of Eternal Gospel, in the cathedral's West Screen, which was smashed when intruders stole a collection box in 2020.

It will be the third and final installation of the Broken Angel series of commissions, said the cathedral.

It is anticipated that the work will be exhibited from the autumn.

The piece of glass was from the window smashed in 2020

Proposals are welcomed from artists with emerging or established practices, in any art form and includes a fee of £3,000, it said.

The West Screen's engravings were created by John Hutton and are made up of 66 separate images. When he died in 1978 his ashes were buried at the foot of the window.

The first installation - Lichtung by artist Anne Petters - saw a piece of the broken window magnified and projected on to glass replacing the damaged panel.

The Broken Angel series has been commissioned by Coventry Cathedral

The current artwork, by Birmingham artist Barbara Walker, is on view until 12 June.

The Dean of Coventry, the Very Rev John Witcombe, said the smashing of the Angel of Eternal Gospel "made a devastating sound as it resonated around our cathedral".

But he said: "We seek a creative response to this act of violence and further our 60-year tradition of working with artists as part of our reconciliation work.

"It's our own poetic, spiritual Fourth Plinth."

The final artwork will be co-curated by a group from Coventry Young Carers working with guest curator Mike Tooby.