A sculpture commemorating an “outsider artist” who spent 50 years in an Angus mental institution has been unveiled at the end of an eight-year project.
Adam Christie from Shetland spent his adult life in Sunnyside Royal Hospital and was buried in a pauper’s grave at nearby Montrose in 1950.
His resting place at Sleepyhillock Cemetery had been marked by a Historic Scotland plaque, with a counterpart unveiled in his birthplace of Cunningsburgh.
The campaign to keep his name alive has culminated in the unveiling of a stone head by Arbroath sculptor Brian Wyllie.
Facing towards Sunnyside and Shetland, the Christie study was based on a photograph in the book The Gentle Shetlander by Ken Keddie, which related the artist’s life at the institution.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ns5kVSaHwfQ%3Frel%3D0
Christie was taken under the wing of celebrated Montrose sculptor William Lamb, but shunned sophisticated tools in favour of a six-inch nail and old file.
“In 2014 we unveiled a plaque here and it was dedicated by Historic Scotland,” said project director Dave Ramsay.
“It was always the idea we would finish this off with a sculpture that would commemorate Adam Christie, almost forever.”
Aberdeenshire Deputy Provost Allison Grant and Angus Deputy Provost Alex King helped unveil the sculpture along with descendants of Christie from Shetland.
Local music teacher Beth Wyllie performed a piece entitled Slow Air to Adam.
Ms Wyllie said: “I was so delighted to be asked to contribute to this wonderful venture and feel honoured to have been able to play a small part in the creative process to celebrate the life of Adam Christie.”
Mr Ramsay added: “I was looking for someone like Brian who could be creative and pay a fiddle tribute to Adam, as a fellow fiddler, to celebrate another of his talents.
“I had outlined to Beth what I thought the piece should involve but the finished composition is way beyond my original expectations.”
Following the memorial, Dr Cheryl McGeachan of Glasgow University gave a talk at the Park Hotel in town, on the links between mental illness and what is now termed outsider art.