Retired Shropshire couple nominated for national 'Arts Hero Award' for their voluntary work photographing public art
A retired couple from Market Drayton have been nominated for a national award in recognition of their extraordinary voluntary work photographing public art across Shropshire and beyond.
Janet and Michael Richardson, who began volunteering for Art UK in 2021, have spent the past four years documenting hundreds of sculptures, murals, and wall art installations.
Their work forms part of Art UK's mission to catalogue all public art in the UK - an effort supported by a team of volunteers nationwide.
And Janet and Michael have now been nominated by the charity for Sky's 'Arts Hero Award 2025' that is designed to celebrate the unsung heroes who work tirelessly behind the scenes to make the arts possible.
"We were shocked to be nominated," said Janet. "We have really enjoyed doing the project. We have got out and about and found out so many different things.
"We have been to so many different places that we would never have been to, and met so many lovely people.
"In Telford we were photographing a bus shelter and someone said 'what are you taking?' so we explained the wonderful paintings that people produce, and people walk past and say they have never noticed things. It has been really enlightening.
"We are really chuffed. We didn't do it for any reward, we just did it because we thought it was something really useful to record for prosperity, but gosh we are really proud."
The pair have photographed more than 100 sculptures in Shropshire, including metalwork on roundabouts, public artworks, and large outdoor structures, as well as more than 180 murals and 35 Openreach phone boxes and bollards.
And the couple's hard work didn't stop here. When that project was completed, they were invited to expand their efforts to Liverpool and North Wales - where they captured more than 450 murals, covering areas from Chester to Anglesey.
The couple’s passion for the project has even led them to purchase a self-published book showcasing the wall art installations they’ve photographed in Shropshire.
Janet added: "My husband and I signed up as volunteers for Art UK in 2021, everything we have done is on a voluntary basis.
"We have been round and photographed 100 sculptures in Shropshire which include all the metal work in roundabouts, artworks and structures that are in public places.
"Art UK then put them on the internet where they are forever, if any of them ever got damaged or lost, then there is a permanent record there.
"We have been to every market town in Shropshire including Shrewsbury, Telford, Ludlow, Craven Arms, Bishop's Castle, Whitchurch, Ellesmere, Oswestry, Pant, Market Drayton where we live and more."
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