Bombed Out Church event celebrates city art trail all about the history of flight

A Liverpool art trail all about the history of flight, from the Wright Brothers’ first successful powered flight to military drones today, is being celebrated this weekend.

Tony Phillips’ project Above Us Only Sky features 20 public artworks, created as hand-painted plaques and frescos in the style of religious imagery, connecting Bluecoat with the Bombed Out Church via a maze of streets in between.

They go up Bold Street with plaques outside Resurrection and Bold Street Coffee, including one of pioneer Amelia Earheart, and on to St Luke’s where an image of the 1941 blitz which destroyed the roof of the church commemorates the event.

The trail then goes forward in time into the post-war era with a route through the Ropewalks area, via Back Colquitt Street, Wood Street, Seel Street, Concert Street and Fleet Street.

Those works were first unveiled in 2022, but now as four of the originals at Bluecoat are scheduled to be taken down to make way for other displays, Tony is planning an update of the trail which will mean two of the dismounted works are reproduced as new frescoes on Seel Street.

As part of a planned restoration by the building’s owners Frenson, they’ll be added to the old preserved facade which fronts Seel Street car park next to Alma de Cuba and already features the artist’s fresco of Laika, the first dog to go into space in 1957.

To relaunch Above Us Only Sky and a campaign to hopefully find a new permanent site for all the images, Tony – who was born in Liverpool 8 but now lives in Italy – will host a theatre performance and reading of his new art book this Sunday, September 28, at the Bombed Out Church.

He explains:

“With the first four taken down, Bluecoat and the Bombed Out Church were concerned that the project might get lost so we’d like to look for a permanent site for them where they can all be in one place for people to see. 

“They could either be repainted directly onto a wall or done as plaques, and ideally outdoors so everyone can easily access them.”

Tony says he hopes a reincarnation of the project will more easily show the development of the aeroplane through a sequence of historical events, from the adventure of early flights to the horror of the atomic bomb, the groundbreaking technology of Concorde and luxury of private jets.

“With the art trail they were separate so anyone wandering through the streets and spotting one or two could be thinking, what’s that? Having them all together would mean people get to see them as a whole project.”

The Above Us Only Sky performance and reading event at the Bombed Out Church on Sunday at 1.30pm is free, no booking needed.

Find out more on the Bombed Out Church website.

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