The sculptor
Peter Walker is an internationally renowned sculptor and artist. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and member of the Royal British Society of Sculptors. He has produced sculptures, paintings, drawings, installation pieces, as well as Son-et-Lumiere productions. This extensive creative ability has led him to produce over fifteen public statues located around the UK. He also has works in private and public collections worldwide.
Peter has founded Lichfield City’s very first Sculpture Trail. This is part of the ‘City of Sculpture project’ TM. He is Artistic Director for Lichfield Cathedral.
The ‘Pity of War’ monument has strong meaning for Peter. This is because of remembering his grandfather who survived World War Two who was conscripted to the battle of Arnhem. After this, he suffered trauma and never spoke of the things he saw, friends he lost and tragedies he responded to and dealt with, whilst raising a family and continuing to work, trying to live a normal life on his return. The sculpture is therefore a dedication to all those who survived war and continued to live despite such difficulties; for Peter, all these people are heroes, young and old, and from any country.
His wife, Kathryn Walker, is a social anthropologist. She is leading the strategy implementation for the public involvement and social outreach aspects of this project.