#Islastones exhibition opens at Atkins

An inspitational exhibition of #islastones has opened at Hinckley’s Atkins Gallery this week.

The exhibition continues the legacy of local school girl, Isla Tansey, who began decorating small rocks and pebbles following her diagnosis with a rare terminal cancer as a way of raising awareness of childhood cancers.  

The campaign quickly gained momentum on social media with painted stones appearing all around the UK and worldwide.

Many of the stones that were laid in memory of Isla in the town’s bandstand last month, along with hundreds of other stones that have been sent in from all over the world, are now on display in a special exhibition in the Atkins Gallery in Isla’s home town of Hinckley.  

The free to enter exhibition is open daily from 9:30am until 4:30pm Monday to Friday until Friday 17 August.

During the exhibition #islastone supporters will be spending time in the Atkins Gallery to talk about Isla’s campaign and advise on creating your own #islastone

Then from 3pm on the closing day of the exhibition, Friday 17 August, everyone is invited to come into the gallery and collect some #islastones to take back out to hide in the local area. 

Any remaining stones after the exhibition closes can be collected from Atkins Building reception from Monday 20 August at 9am.

#islastone supporter Lisa Crankshaw said:

After painting stones with my daughter, who is 6 years old, and talking to people about why we are doing it, I realised that there are still many people who don’t access social media. Also, some of the artwork is much better when you can see it up close, not via a photograph. I thought that the Atkins Gallery would be an ideal central place for the stones to be gathered, just for a short time, here in the town where it all began and the place that was home to Isla and is still home to her family.  

Isla was such an inspiration to many people, young and old. These stones bring joy to many, also making them aware of childhood cancer, especially DIPG, which is the form Isla had. 

Thank you to the team at the Atkins Building for supporting this event.

Council Leader Mike Hall said:

I’ve been following #islastones' progress for some time, and had the pleasure of meeting Isla and her family at our recent ‘Making a Difference’ awards, where they received a special award for bringing happiness to so many people through #islastones and raising awareness of the fight against childhood cancer.

It’s great to see children and adults alike painting and hiding stones, and to see just how far they are travelling around the world, and the exhibition is a fantastic idea. The creativity going into some of the images is amazing with people producing real works of art, and I would encourage everybody to visit the Atkins Building to see the display and to find out more about DIPG.

I consider myself very fortunate to have met Isla and to have seen her unforgettable smile, the exhibition will be a fitting tribute to a very brave young lady.

For more information about the #islastones exhibition please email LisaCrankshaw72@gmail.com and for information on the Atkins Gallery please email info@atkinsbuilding.co.uk The Atkins Gallery is open Monday to Friday 9:30am to 4:30pm.