Fusion’s War Memorial Centenary Art Competition and ‘100 Poppy Wreaths’ display 

Barnsley Museums and Heritage Trust are very proud to be a supporter of Fusion, Barnsley’s Local Cultural Education Partnership and the work that they do. Fusion recently led a very special project with Barnsley’s Armed Forces team and BMBC’s Resilient Communities to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Barnsley War Memorial.  

Secondary schools across the borough were invited, by Fusion and Barnsley Schools Alliance’s Secondary Arts Network, to submit pen portraits of World War I soldiers from Barnsley. The response was overwhelming, with close to 700 artworks submitted from seven secondary schools. The artworks were based on archival images provided by Barnsley Archives & Local Studies. Designer Paul Hopkinson of Script Media used the artworks to create a large-scale facial mosaic of two of the Barnsley PALs which formed part of a major visual projection onto Barnsley Town Hall on Saturday October 11th to mark the 100th birthday of the War Memorial.  

The Mayor of Barnsley selected a favourite artwork from each school and shared the following message with all participants: 

“I was absolutely delighted to be asked to judge the War Memorial Centenary Art Competition. The creativity and talent were truly inspiring, and with so many amazing entries, choosing the winners was incredibly difficult. It’s clear that a great deal of passion and effort went into every piece, and I encourage all the young artists to keep up the fantastic work. Your imagination and dedication are a credit to you.”  

The winners and their families were invited to meet the Mayoral Party and other special guests, including MP for Barnsley and Minister of State Dan Jarvis MP, the leader of Barnsley Council, at a formal reception at the Town Hall to see a display of their artwork. 

The parent of one of the young artists commented on the impact the competition had on her child. “Being chosen for something like this has given her a great feeling of self-worth. My daughter has suffered with anxiety throughout her school life which means she won’t push herself forward in class and we were worried she would slip into the background.  

To win something that is outside of the school environment has made her confidence thrive and feel such a sense of achievement in herself.” 

Michael Hardy, Barnsley Museum’s Digital Engagement Curator has compiled a digital display of the artworks which can now be viewed at Experience Barnsley for the rest of the month alongside a blog about the centenary of the war memorial. https://barnsleymuseums.art.blog/2025/10/11/100-years-of-remembrance-barnsleys-war-memorial/ 

In addition, eighteen primary schools created close to 3,000 beautiful paper poppies that formed a meaningful display at the Town Hall for the War Memorial Centenary event. The involvement of Butterflies Dementia Support Group, thanks to freelance artist Sally Philburn, who created 100 poppy wreaths out of the children’s poppies added a very special element of intergenerational engagement to the project. The event also featured a magnificent cascade of crocheted poppies created by a talented group of volunteers from Bolton on Dearne widening the involvement of communities from across the borough. 

The event was a truly special evening and we were very honoured to be asked to be involved.